KHHS: Descent Into Oblivion
by RandomNumbers523156
Summary: Sequel to KHHS, written by Ckelef1. After defeating Magneto, the Seeker of Darkness, Heather and her friends are brought to a castle where they must fight for their memories, all orchestrated by a mysterious figure.
1. Prologue: The Yellow Brick Road

Previously on Kingdom Hearts: The One Wigged Angel

"_Let's focus on this door to the light," Goofy said, "I'm sure we can find them through this door." At that moment, the King's dog, Pluto, appeared, siting in the middle of the road._

_"Pluto? Where have you been?" Donald asked, remembering they had let him go in Traverse Town._

_"He's holding something." Goofy observed, looking at the letter at his mouth. The dog looked at them and ran away, through the yellow road._

_"Oh, just great," Heather said, "Now we'll have to go after him."_

_"Last one pays the ice cream!" Harold said, running as fast as he could, with Donald and Goofy following suit._

_"Hey, that's not fair." She frowned at first, but her frown quickly became a smile, and she also ran after the dog. She was happy, indeed._

_"Isn't it fabulous, Chef?" Chris said, spreading his arms, watching the scene._

_"Whatever…" he replied, in his normal unfriendly tone, holding the camera._

_"Heather's journey still has lots of things to do, and we will be recording everything! We must fulfill our role."_

_"Whatever…"_

_"Go, Chef, go!" Chris said, also running behind them. The subordinate just sighed and followed his boss._

_And remember, Heather, the mysterious voice echoed in her mind and in the infinitude," You are the one who will open the door to the light."_

Now...

After a few days, they already had lost track of Pluto. They weren't even counting the time anymore, but nighttime prevailed, the moon reigned in the skies. Heather woke up, and looked to her left to see her allies - I mean friends - sleeping in a pile next to her.

"Lazy bums," she said.

At the sight, she remembered what had transpired before they fell asleep.

_The group had ran in endless trail in the middle of a grassy plain for days and days, no sign of Pluto. The initial excitement Heather harbored over another adventure had progressively diminished, leaving her in a usual cranky, bossy state. Though she was now nicer to her friends, old habits do die hard, not to mention Heather's definition of 'niceness' was pretty elastic._

"_Ugh where did that stupid dog go?" asked Heather, exhausted from both the chase and still tired from the previous long fight with Magneto, the enemy that her group had defeated in their last journey._

"_Well…Pluto…was always…a fast dog…" said Goofy, gasping for air. _

"_Well come on, he couldn't have gotten far." replied Heather, her silver wig moving a little as the wind blew. _

"_In our current states there's no way we could catch up to him." Said Harold, the know-it-all and optimist of the group. "In case you forgot, we jut underwent the most important battle of our lives." _

"_Well do you have any other ideas? Without Pluto we have no idea what we're even supposed to do!" said Heather._

"_We're just gonna have to rest here tonight and hope that he didn't go that far off." said the barely understandable Donald. To many people the group had encountered, Donald was the most difficult to understand person ever. But to his three friends, who had put up with it for an extended period of time, it was the clearest talking in the world._

"_Ugh fine. But be prepared to wake up bright and early." Said Heather._

"_Excited over another adventure, are we?" said Goofy._

"_No, I just want to find Leshawna and the King. The sooner we find them, the better." said Heather._

"_Methinks the lady doth protest too much." said Harold._

_Donald and Goofy laughed._

"_Ugh…whatever. Just go to sleep." said Heather._

"_Don't worry Heather, we're just teasing ya." Said Donald. Soon after the group had drifted off into sleep._

Heather looked at her teammates. Had it been the beginning of her journey, she would have awoken them as rudely as possible just to make sure that their mission was accomplished swiftly. However Heather remembered what Harold had said about their recently completed final battle, and realized that a rest was well deserved. Sleep was, however, the last thing Heather planned on doing at the moment.

"Better get a head start and try to find which way that stupid dog went." Said the queen bee.

Heather kept walking along the road, realizing that since it was just one road, she would have no trouble going back to the campsite. She had walked for about twenty minutes before coming across crossroads. The one road gave way into three roads, each equally distant from the other. Heather crossed her arms, an annoyed look overcame her face.

"Well this is just freaking fantastic."

As if a direct response, Heather heard a loud, booming, yet scratchy voice directly behind her.

"_Along the road ahead lies something that you need._"

"Why do my adventures always start with creepy voices," she said. She turned around, only to find no one there.

"Of course."

She turned around again and saw a figure in a black coat twenty feet away. It was tall but slender in appearance. Though she was surprised, Heather had gone through many creatures and surprises in her journey, and as such she did the only thing she could do…

"Ahhh!" she yelled in shock.

The voice muttered to itself without Heather hearing, "Why is that everyone's reaction when they see me…"

"Um…excuse me? If you're gonna talk at least be louder." said Heather, after shaking her head and regaining her composure. Only mumbling returned.

Speaking again in a loud voice, the creature said "What I said was, along the road ahead lies something that you need."

"Yeah, yeah, already heard it." replied an annoyed Heather.

"However, in order to claim it, you must lose something that is dear to you." said the figure.

Heather began running towards the figure, yelling "What do you mean?" The figure turned around and began to walk, but disappeared right as Heather ran to it.

"Dammit!" muttered Heather.

She looked around to realize that she had forgotten which of the four roads the one she came from was.

"Double dammit!" She muttered.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a white room, there was a girl with a camera. The room was quite bare, with photos of different parts of Heather's journey posted on the walls. There was her fighting Muntz in Amazonian Plateau, locking the Keyhole in Halloween Town, and even having her heart taken by the darkness in Hollow Bastion. The room was calm, even to the point of relaxation. In the distance there was a white birdcage. On the inside was not a bird, but rather a doll: A doll of a slender white girl with a large orange ponytail. The doll had a blue shirt, green shorts, a blue visor, and oversized headphones. In the center of the room, clicking sounds could be heard, as a figure in the room was looking through a camera, examining a photo of a large brown castle, with a wicked look. It was twisted, with broken stained glass and ruined pillars. There was golden lining everywhere and large, light colored doors.

* * *

Back at the crossroads, Heather had been tapping her foot impatiently. She saw three familiar figures approaching her: Harold, Donald, and Goofy.

"It's about time!" said an impatient Heather, "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here for you guys? What took you guys so long?"

"Shouldn't you be thanking us for finding you?" said Goofy. Even though Heather was nicer now than she used to be, she still had her moments. However Goofy knew that Heather just needed a little push to help her.

"Fine, thank you for finding me." Said Heather, albeit reluctantly.

"I'm gonna blame your crankiness on the fact that it's early morning. Moving on, did you find Pluto?" asked Harold.

"No, but I found something of equal importance." Said Heather. "In fact, something probably more important than the dumb dog."

"What?" Asked her three friends, all equally curious.

"A guy in a black cloak, saying that up ahead is, and I quote, **_something that I need_**. He also said in order to claim it, I need to **_lose something dear to me_**_._" Said Heather.

"Do you think he meant the Keyblade?" asked Donald.

"Obviously." Said Heather. "Here I thought I'd have had enough of freaks trying to take the Keyblade. You'd think after that loser MacLean broadcasted the battle against Magneto for everyone to see, people would think twice about trying to take it."

"Guess there's just always gonna be a new challenger ready to take you on." Said Goofy.

"Which means that for all we know there could be another battle up ahead." Said Harold.

"I say we ditch looking for the mutt and start looking for the fashionably challenged loser." Said Heather. Something that her teammates enjoyed was her straightforward way of thinking and insults (unless the insults were directed at them).

"Well which way did he go?" asked Donald.

"He turned to go this way but disappeared into thin air." Said Heather, pointing in the direction that the man went. "I suppose this is as good a way as any."

"Well let's get going." Said Goofy.

The group continued on. For the longest time, they were still on a single road surrounded by grass. They ran over and around grassy hills on a seemingly endless road. Eventually something began peaking out of the next hill.

"I see something up ahead!" said Harold.

"Then there's no time to waste, let's go." instructed Heather.

The group ran up ahead. However once they saw what was peaking over the grass, they were stopped dead in their tracks. They were in a clearing in front of a castle. It was a large brown castle, with a wicked look. It was twisted, with broken stained glass and ruined pillars. There was golden lining everywhere and large, light colored doors. It was the exact same castle from the photograph.

They stared at the ominous building. Heather crossed her arms and scoffed.

* * *

**A.N.:** The sequel is being written by Ckelef1, not me, but he insisted that I publish under my name, so here it is (or it was if you read here). It will follow the actual game, so I hope you enjoy. I also act as an editor, but the bulk of the fic is being written by him.


	2. The Hall of Light and Darkness

"I haven't seen a castle that inviting since Fortress Intolerance," remarked Heather after scoffing.

Looking ahead, the castle was something to marvel at. It was a beautiful brown color with golden lines running all over it. However it was still a scary sight. Most of the spires and towers were twisting every which way defying all laws of gravity.

"I don't know if it's the ominous sky or the twisted nature of the castle, but something tells me that the figure you mentioned is in there." observed Goofy.

"Maybe there's a chance that my dear sweet chocolate goddess could also be in there!" said Harold, beaming.

"And the King!" said Donald.

"Do ya really think Leshawna and the King are in there?" asked Goofy.

"Of course! I've got a feeling in my gut about it." said Donald.

"And I have a feeling in my heart that tells me when my dear Leshawna is near." said Harold

"What do you think Heather?" asked Goofy.

"Normally I'd say that they're being overly optimistic, but something tells me that this castle isn't that far off from the Realm of Darkness," observed Heather. "The skies are so wickedly dark that I can't help but wonder if we're there also."

"But it's not completely dark, so it can't be the Realm of Darkness," said Goofy. "Probably just pretty close to it, like ya said."

"That's the truth!" said a voice. Jumping onto Heather's shoulder was none other than Jiminy Cricket. "As soon as I saw this castle from your pocket, I knew that we'd find our friends in there."

"Jiminy? You're still here?" asked Heather. It had been a long time since the group had seen Jiminy, so Heather assumed that Jiminy left before the battle against Magneto.

"Of course! I made a whole journal out of our last adventure!" said Jiminy, pulling out his journal. Heather flipped through it while Goofy looked over her shoulder.

"Huh, well what do you know. The bug is right. He really has been doing work," said Heather. "Well no use waiting out here. Time to stop stalling and face whatever is waiting for us in there."

"Is it okay for us to just barge in?" asked Goofy.

"Like manners have ever stopped us before." joked Heather. She walked towards the castle with her friends following. She stopped in front of the doors. The doors were big and gold, gemstones of beauty on the enigma of the castle.

"Something wrong Heather?" asked Donald.

"You can't expect me to open those doors." said Heather.

"I guess somethings never change," said Harold. "Come on Goofy."

"What I mean is, that if something is waiting for us in there I at least want to have a good pose ready," said Heather, surprising everyone. "Don't forget that MacLean is probably filming this."

"Wow Heather, I wouldn't expect that from you, yet at the same time I would, ahyuck!" said Goofy.

Harold and Goofy opened the doors. Heather and Donald were the first to look inside. There was a huge white lobby that was bare. White pillars in front of white walls. At the end was a big yellow door. Harold and Goofy joined Heather and Donald after opening the doors.

"Looks pretty clear. Move in." commanded Heather. The four walked in, however once they stepped in, suddenly they all held their hands to their heads. They ached in pain, but after a couple seconds it passed and they were all back to normal.

"Ugh…What just happened?" asked Heather.

"Wak! I don't know, but whatever it was, it sure wasn't pretty." said Donald.

"I didn't know headaches that bad existed." said Jiminy.

"Gawrsh, I feel a little dizzy." complained Goofy.

"Maybe it was just a lapse brought on by our exhaustion. Let's not forget how early we woke up." said Harold.

"I don't care what caused it," said Heather, moving towards the center of the room. "I'm getting a strange vibe from this castle already. Let's move on and find some answers."

"Control freak..." Harold commented casually, earning a slap to the back of his head.

Donald and Harold walked along with Heather while Goofy stood there. He turned around and saw that the doors were still wide open. The last thing he wanted is having unwelcome people follow them in there.

"Hey, fellas, shouldn't we close the doors behind us first?" asked Goofy. He turned around to head towards the door but saw something that he didn't expect. "Heather!" he yelled, in shock.

Heather, Harold, and Donald turned around and saw a figure in a black cloak. His stature was average and he was slender, like the one that Heather had come across earlier. The doors closed behind him as he stood in front of them, motionless, unfazed by the four heroes now looking at him.

"It's the guy I saw earlier!" said Heather. She put out her arm and in a flash, her trusty weapon, the Keyblade was at her side. She got into her standard battle stance as Jiminy disappeared into her shorts, and with a firm expression and serious demeanor, asked "Who are you?"

The figure began walking towards the group, provoking retaliation from the group. Donald summoned his staff, Goofy his shield, and Harold his nunchakus.

"Wak-A Heartless? Well have some magic!" shouted Donald in a battle stance. He pointed his staff at the figure and yelled, "THUNDER!"

Heather, Harold, and Goofy jumped back, expecting an all-powerful thunderbolt to rain down, the likes of which were seen in the battle against Magneto. However nothing happened, and Donald stood there holding his staff with nothing happening to the surprise of everyone.

"Something wrong Duck?" asked Heather.

"No, my magic is fine! THUNDER!" yelled Donald, to the same results. "Come on, THUNDER, THUNDER!" Still nothing happened. "Come on! Blizzard! Fire? Something?" said Donald, starting to give up.

The figure stopped right in front of them, having not even flinched during Donald's attempts at attacking.

"Why isn't it working?" asked a worried Donald.

"Isn't it obvious?" said the figure, in the scratchy yet deep voice from earlier. "The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and ability you ever knew."

"Ha! You expect me to believe that load of bullcrap?" said an annoyed Heather. "You're talking to the person who defeated Magneto and Maleficent, two of the most prominent figures of darkness, as stupid and blind as they were. I think I'd know if I forgot every ability I learned." Heather put her Keyblade in front of her and bent one knee, "Now let me show you how much I remember by showing you the power of the Sonic Blade!" Heather ran forward with the Keyblade in front of her, but she tripped and landed an inch away from the figure. This surprised her teammates, as Heather had a lot of experience with the Sonic Blade technique. It was arguably her signature move. If she forgot that, then what would that mean for them? Heather slowly got up and jumped back from the figure before it could do anything.

"You can't actually be serious." Said Heather in disbelief, "Are you also about to tell me that Goofy forgot his Tornado technique and Harold his dancing nunchakus?" Goofy and Harold both looked at their weapons with looks of sadness as Heather said this.

"I am here to tell you many things, but what it is exactly that you forgot is something that I cannot tell you." said the figure. "What I am here to tell you, is that in this castle, to find is to lose and to lose is to find."

"Again with the riddles." Said Heather, still quite annoyed at the current circumstance. "How about you skip all the stupidity and fight me now."

"WILL YOU LET ME FINISH MY CRYPTIC SPIEL?" Yelled the figure, his voice cracking in the process, surprising the group. "Now as I was saying, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That is the way in Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?" repeated Heather.

"Yes, Castle Oblivion." Reiterated the figure.

"Castle Oblivion?" asked Harold.

"Yes, that's what I just said." Repeated the figure.

"Castle Oblivion?" asked Donald.

"For the last time, yes! Castle Oblivion!" said the figure, irritated.

"Castle Oblivi-"

"ENOUGH!" Yelled the figure, not letting Goofy finish. "The name of this place is, for the last time, Castle Oblivion. Learn that name well as it will be your prison."

The figure was shrouded in darkness. He disappeared in it, leaving Heather staring at nothing. She looked around frantically searching for the figure, only for him to reappear right behind her. Her and her friends turned around to face the figure, now in front of the door at the end of the room.

"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past, and you will meet people you miss." Said the figure, now calm.

"People I miss?" asked Heather, suddenly remembering her mother. There hadn't been a lot of people close to Heather, but the one figure that kept her going in her previous adventure was the thought of her mother, the one person Heather had always loved. Heather then thought of another person she missed, someone who the group was looking for. As if on cue-

"Leshawna? Leshawna's here?" asked Harold. "I knew my beating heart would not lie!"

"And the king!" exclaimed Donald and Goofy.

"So then they are here! Spill it, where are they?" demanded Heather.

"If that is what you want…to find them…" said the figure, before sticking a hand out and blowing a gust of wind towards the group. Heather tried to stay in place by holding her Keyblade in front of her with one hand, and her silver wig with the other.

"Can't let you do that, Heather! HAHAHA!" The figure laughed with a snort and rushed towards Heather, becoming transparent and phasing through her and nearly knocking her over, before reappearing on the other side. Heather regained her composure and without questioning what happened, turned about-face and ran towards the figure. She jumped up, and with the elegant agility she possessed, swiftly brought the Keyblade down on the figure. However he saw it coming, and just as the Keyblade was about to hit its target, the figure vanished once more into a gust of wind. To say that Heather was displeased with this was an understatement. She angrily turned around looking for the figure.

"Where are you! Come on out you coward!" Yelled Heather.

The figure reappeared in front of the doors, and held out a finger as if to tease Heather.

"Nah nah nah nah nah nah! You can't get me!" teased the figure as the group ran up to him. "You popular girls are all the same, thinking everyone will bend to your force."

"What does Heather's popularity have to do with this?" Asked Harold.

"And what did you do to me?" asked Heather, too angry with the figure to even notice his statement about Heather's popularity status.

"Oh nothing, just sample your memories." Said the figure, nonchalantly.

"You what?" Yelled Heather, not happy at having her memories reviewed by a complete stranger, and an evil one at that.

"I needed your memories." said the figure.

"What for?" asked Heather, gripping her Keyblade as if she were ready to bash the figure's smug out of him.

"To make this little beauty." replied the figure, holding out a blue card. On it was a photo of Traverse Town. The crown was big and in the shape of a crown.

"Use it to reunite with those you hold dear." said the figure, throwing the card sharply to Heather, who had caught it just as quickly as the figure had thrown it.

"A card? What kind of nerd game is this?" asked a dumbfounded Heather.

"Card games are fun. I learned that at Cardy Steve's Card camp." Said Harold proudly, gaining odd stares from those around him.

"IT'S NOT NERDY!" yelled the figure again, cracking once more.

"How professional of you." said Heather. "Cards are for children!"

"Actually it's a children's card game!" Harold snickered, and the figure also countered back a chuckle. Heather just narrowed her eyes and slapped the geek's head,

"Well if you would let me finish!" said the figure, annoyed at how uncooperative Heather and her group were being. "Anyways, the card is a promise. A promise for the reunion you seek. Hold the card to open the door, and beyond it, a new world."

The figure, saying this, pointed towards the large door behind him. "Proceed Heather," he continued, "To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose…"

Giving that ominous warning, the figure disappeared in a shroud of darkness once more. His time he did not reappear in the room.

Jiminy reappeared on Heather's shoulder having heard the entire ordeal. He observed the card, and commented, "Looks important."

"I really don't like that guy." said Heather, "At least Magneto was a blind idiot. This guy is just a nerdy pain in the ass and we've only known him for five minutes."

"Well we'd better find out what he meant." said Harold.

"Let's go through the door and see what happens." said Donald.

Goofy and Harold, now the standard door openers of the group, had walked up to the doors only to find that they wouldn't budge.

"Just great!" exclaimed Heather, "This loser leaves us with a card and no way out."

"Well maybe we need the card to proceed. Well the guy did say that we need to**_ hold the card to open the door._** In most card games you need cards in order to advance." observed Harold.

"Harold, that is…actually the most sense-making thing I've heard all day. Guess your nerd knowledge comes in handy." said Heather.

Harold smiled but after reality sank in he muttered, "Wait…" But Heather don't even pay the slightest attention. She walked up to the door and held up the card. The card and the door both lit up simultaneously. The card disappeared as the door opened up, with nothing but light inside. Heather, unfazed stood before the opening door as her friends walked up behind her.

"Come on, let's go." she commanded.


	3. Fidgeting Memories in a Town, pt 1

**Floor 1 – Traverse Town**

Heather had run through the door followed by her friends. They covered their eyes as they ran in, blinded by the massive light released by the door once opened. Heather stopped after walking a couple steps, and opened her eyes to see that the light cleared up. What she saw, however, was something she would not expect.

"What in the hell…" commented Heather, looking around. "This is Traverse Town!"

She was correct. She was standing in the plaza of the first district of Traverse Town. Usually the plaza was full of the town's hustle and bustle. Be it rampaging Gyarados or a live video feed of Heather's adventures, there was never a dull moment. On the contrary, the plaza was empty and quiet. Not a cricket could be heard (well, except Jiminy). The only sounds were those made by Heather. Another sound was made, the same distorted sound of a dark portal opening. Heather turned around and the figure stood there.

"Silly girl, what you see isn't real." said the figure, which was behind Heather. She had turned around to face him, but he disappeared into another dark portal as she looked at him.

"Stop doing that!" yelled Heather, impatient.

The figure reappeared behind Heather and continued, "This town is an illusion, created by your memories ingrained in that card."

Heather turned around and finally caught the figure. "You mean memories that weren't yours to look at in the first place! Cheater…" She remarked. Jiminy jumped off of her shoulder and jumped on the ground, between Heather and the figure.

"Heather, forget about that! We lost Harold, Donald, and Goofy!" said a worried Jiminy.

Heather raised an eyebrow and began looking around frantically, scanning the area.

"Harold! Donald! Goofy!" she yelled, worried about her friends. She angrily turned towards the figure, and yelled, "What did you do with them! Speak now or prepare to die!"

"They are at the mercy of the cards now." replied the figure in a calm demeanor.

"Uh huh….mercy of the cards. Well, how about you are at the MERCY OF MY KEYBLADE?" yelled Heather, summoning her Keyblade.

"Now, now, Heather," then he stopped to clear his throat, "Why so serious?" asked the figure, in a deeper voice.

"Are you joking? You lead me to a castle in the middle of nowhere, speak in nothing but riddles, which I hate, scan my freaking memories, which is an invasion of privacy, and hurt my friends! How dare you to have the gall to stand there and calmly ask my why I'm serious!" replied Heather.

"I didn't hurt your friends. I already told you that they're at the mercy of the cards."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Heather.

"It's exactly what it implies. Master the cards, and their strength will be yours again. Use the cards Heather…use the cards…." replied the figure.

"Enough of this BS." Said Heather, getting into a battle stance. Before she had the chance to attack the figure, a light appeared in-between them, and out of it came a green card. On it was a picture of Donald.

"Donald?" Heather cried, confused with the sight.

"The laws of this castle require that your friends be turned into cards." explained the figure. "If you value you friends, I suggest you pick them up."

"WHAT? What kind of nerdy crap is that?" asked Heather.

"IT'S NOT NERDY!" yelled the figure, losing his temper.

"Yeah, cause card games are _so _cool." remarked Heather sarcastically. She ran towards the Donald card and picked it up.

"Don't worry Donald, this guy will pay for this." Said Heather, worried about her friend. However the card shrunk and moved by itself to Heather's Keychain. "Huh?" she asked. She looked at her Keychain and saw something surprising. There were numerous little red cards attached to the chain in varying places. All of them had pictures of her Kingdom Key on it. The only thing that separated one from the other was that each card had a different number.

"Cards you pick up are added to your stack." explained the figure.

"Don't tell me, my 'stack' would be all of the cards attached to my Keyblade." said Heather.

"Of course. Only natural that your source of power in this castle would be connected to the only outlet your power has." said the figure. "Each card represents a time you can swing your Keyblade. The higher the value, the more complex the swing you can have."

"I'm sorry, but that the most nonsensical thing I HAVE EVER HEARD! Why must I limit my fighting style to simple cards? What was wrong with just fighting?" asked Heather, flailing her arms in disbelief.

"Did you not listen to me earlier?" asked the figure, agitated. "That is the way in castle oblivion! Plus card games are awesome! There is no better pastime then Magic: The Gathering."

"Uh…huh…." Heather raised an eyebrow, mouth slightly agape. Now she understood with what kind of person or thing she was dealing with.

"Anyways if you want your so-called friends to return to your side, you just have to use the cards and they will come to your aide."

Heather was in a state of disbelief. Here she was, in Traverse Town, in a castle ruled by a nerd, forced to fight using cards. While there were many things that Heather had gone through, nothing was more confusing than this. However disregarding those thoughts, she raised her Keyblade, and sternly said, "Donald!"

The card disappeared off of her Keyblade while a light flashed and Donald appeared.

"Wak! Where am I?" he asked, confused. He looked around and saw his surroundings. "Traverse Town? Heather how did we get here?"

"I'll explain later Duck. Are you, Harold, and Goofy okay?"

"Yup, we sure are!" replied Donald happily. "One moment we're walking through the door, and the next we're in-"

In another flash, Donald disappeared, leaving Heather once again alone with the figure.

"Donald! Where did he go?" asked Heather.

"Summoning your allies isn't permanent." replied the figure. "The cards you use vanish, but they will reappear from time to time. You need to keep getting their cards to re-summon them. I also recommend that rather than talk to them, you use the precious time you have with them to battle. They will be able to fight as they did long ago. The cards hold the hearts of your friends."

"You what?" replied Heather, angry that this person would hold the hearts of her friends captive.

"Don't worry. Unlike the Heartless their bodies aren't gone, as you saw. Their hearts are in the cards for certain periods of time." said the figure. "You'll understand the cards eventually. Everything in this castle is ruled by cards. Whether an enemy or a door confronts you, cards are the only way to proceed."

"I reiterate-NERD!" said Heather.

"ONE DAY I SHALL RULE YOU!" said the figure, losing his cool, raising his fist. He regained his composure and attempted to salvage whatever vicious image he had. "Just because this castle is ruled by cards doesn't mean you should forget your own strength."

"Well I think it's time I showed you my 'own strength,' nerd!" said Heather. She rushed forward, Keyblade in hand. She slashed towards the figure, but he dodged it with relative ease. Heather tried an upward slash, but the figure just backed quickly, avoiding it. It was almost as if he didn't move, but rather glided.

"Stop dodging and fight like a man!" Yelled Heather, who kept attempting to hurt the man. She tried using every trick she knew. She jumped up and slashed downwards but the moved out of the way quickly and out of range. She tried a Sonic Blade, again, forgetting that she forgot it, and once again tripped. She had worse results with the Strike Raid, as throwing the Keyblade at the figure did nothing as the Keyblade just landed a few feet away from her. Heather re-summoned the Keyblade and kept hacking and slashing to very bad results. No move would hit the agile figure. No matter what she did, he floated out of the way and out of reach. She tried to stab at the figure outright, but was surprised when she couldn't move the Keyblade.

"What…is this…?" asked Heather, who recoiled the Keyblade since she could not hit with it.

"Every move you make causes a card to disappear. Look at your Keyblade. You used up all your cards and now you can't act." said the figure. Heather held it up and noticed that there were no more cards on it.

"Oh great, now what am I supposed to do?" asked Heather, clearly upset with the restrictions.

"Focus." replied the figure.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" asked Heather.

"Just re-summon the cards." replied the figure. He noticed a confused expression on Heather's face, and decided to explain further before being rudely interrupted once more by the Keyblade wielder. "When you're out of cards, concentrate your heart and the cards will return to you. If you command the cards come to you, they will. They're still you, remember that. They're parts of your memory."

Heather rolled her eyes, but decided to give it a try. It was crazy but she had a feeling that would be one of the least crazy things she would do in that crazy castle. She curled her hand into a fist and held it to her heart. She noticed a flash in the corner of her eye, and looked down at the source. The cards had reappeared on the chain of her Keyblade, in the same order they were in the last time.

"The strength of your heart brought back the cards. However be aware of the fact that each time you re-summon them, it takes longer to do so." said the figure.

"Why not just put in dice and make this whole thing a giant game? It's already at the same level of ridiculous as any card or board game." said Heather.

"The cards are by no means unlimited. You have to anticipate the flow of battle in order to use them wisely." said the figure, showing that he was learning to ignore Heather's remarks. "Don't worry, you're a smart girl. You'll get used to it…eventually...There are four types of cards you can use. Attack cards, which you just used, and badly."

"Hey!" Said Heather, offended.

"How does it feel now, huh? Anyways, the second type of card is magic." Said the figure. This surprised Heather, to the point of her even smiling.

"You mean I'll have control of magic again?" asked Heather "But I lost the ability to use it after sacrificing my magic to defeat The Hulk."

"Yes, you can. That is the way in Castle Oblivion." replied the figure. "The third type of card is an item card. You should be no stranger to items such as potions and elixirs. The fourth type is enemy cards, which you gain after defeating certain enemies. They can be used once per battle, as they have a lasting effect. They will empower you whether you're attacking or defending. Just remember it is up to you to decide when to attack and when to de-"

"You're not helping the stereotype that nerds are boring." said Heather.

"THAT'S IT, I'M DONE! I try to help someone start off but what happens? Nothing but disrespect! I have never IN MY LIFE met someone as rude as you!" cried the figure, done putting up with Heather. "I need a break!"

The figure disappeared into a black portal, leaving Heather alone in the plaza. She heard footsteps and turned around to see Harold, Donald, and Goofy running towards her.

"Heather!" the three yelled in unison.

"Harold! Donald! Goofy!" Heather said happily, as the three stopped in front of her. "Where have you guys been?"

"We don't know!" said Harold. "The door opened, there was a bright flash of light, and the rest is blank."

"Well not for me." recalled Donald, "I remember going blank then being here in the middle of Traverse Town and Heather and the guy in the coat."

Jiminy jumped back down, and said loudly so everyone could hear, "Well that doesn't help."

"Speaking of which," began Goofy, "Why are we back in Traverse Town? Shouldn't this world have disappeared when we defeated Magneto?"

"All those questions, and more, will be answered at a later time." said the figure, who reappeared in front of them.

"You again?" asked Heather.

"No matter how annoying you are," the figure said, still sounding offended, "A stupid popular girl like you can't take independent decisions, so needs someone to do everything for her…"

"Hey!"

"But it is my burden, and how burdensome it is… the source of the power is-"

"Don't tell me," she interrupted, mimicking the figure, "It's all in the cards."

"Now you get it!" said the figure, excited that Heather has finally understood. "Master the cards and make your way through this castle. From here on out, you walk alone."

"Alone? We can't let Heather go alone!" cried Goofy.

"Heather's nothing without our help!" said Donald.

"Thanks for believing in me, guys." Said Heather sarcastically, a little annoyed at her friends' lack of faith.

"What they mean to say is that we've proven in the past that we work stronger as a team then Heather does alone, even though she is capable of handling herself." said Harold, coming up with an answer everyone was content with.

"Thank you Harold. Don't worry, I'll be fine." said Heather. She turned to the figure, and said, "You want me to go alone? So be it. It's your funeral anyways."

"You'll still see your teammates, it's only during battle where you won't see them." said the figure. "Go on Heather, the rest of Castle Oblivion waits. Walk the avenues of latent memories and you shall meet someone dear to you. Good luck, and may the cards be with you."

With that, he disappeared into a dark portal.

"Cards? Pop culture references? Now that is a cool bad guy." Harold smiled.

"Bad guy nonetheless." said Heather. "And cool is the last word I'd use to describe this guy."

"I've got a bad feeling about this." said Jiminy.

"No it's 'I have a bad feeling about this'." The geek murmured. Luckily for him, Heather didn't hear and he would be saved from having his head slapped this one time.

"Don't worry cricket, I'm more than ready for any tricks this nerd has up his sleeves." said Heather. "I've been with Harold long enough to know how to anticipate what a nerd will do."

"Hey!" cried Harold.

"It's true!" said Heather, as Harold looked down shamefully.

"Meanwhile what's up with these cards you guys keep mentionin'?" asked Goofy.

Heather went on to explain to them everything that the figure had told her. The cards on her Keyblade, the limitations she had, and her ability to once gain control magic. Donald and Goofy looked confused while Harold looked more and more excited.

"I am loving this!" said Harold, taking out a deck of playing cards in his pocket. He began shuffling them. "Finally a chance to truly put my mad card skills to the test." Once he said that all of the cards fell to the floor, scattered, caused by him not shuffling correctly. He looked embarrassed while everyone else looked at him weirdly.

"Don't get too excited, you won't be the one playing. I will. You'll be a card." The Keyblade-wielder replied, rolling her eyes.

"Either way, I'm excited!" said Harold.

"Well it's a good thing I have you. Now there's not a doubt in my mind that I'll figure this card thing in no time." said Heather, then looking forward. "Well, we'd better get going."

They turned around and a bright light flashed. A card appeared in front of them. It was golden and had the outline of a key.

"Another card." said Donald.

"This one looks more important than others. I think I'll hold onto it." said Heather. The second she grabbed onto it, another bright light flashed. Heather hid her eyes from any harm and waited until the light had passed, though muttered. "Is this gonna become a regular thing."

When the light cleared, she looked around to see that she was no longer in the traverse Town plaza. She was in a part of Traverse Town that looked like it was the first plaza, but it wasn't. It was skinnier, and looked more like a hallway. The two lamp posts were still there but the plaza was surrounded by buildings. Gone were the item shops and the café. Harold, Donald, and Goofy were gone once more, leaving Heather alone.

"Harold? Donald? Goofy? What the, where am I? Bah-who cares." said Heather, at this point giving up on any logic. Whatever it was she had to do, she wanted to have it done quickly. She walked a step before crashing in a crate and falling down.

"Ah! Are you freaking kidding me? Who set up this castle, Chris?"

* * *

Speaking of a certain TV show host…

"What do you mean we can't get a feed?" asked the host. He was talking to his assistant, Chef, in a dark room. There was a television hooked up to a camera and many buttons and controls. Chris had planned to film Heather's adventure through the castle, but once the heroine stepped through the gates, his camera (which was able to film EVERYTHING, due to its sub-spatial components) had stopped picking anything up. All that appeared was static, as if the castle was transmitting static.

"I'm telling you Chris, it won't work!" replied Chef.

"But it has to! Who else is gonna film Heather's next grand adventure! If we can't film anything more than we're gonna have to cancel Total Drama Worlds!" yelled Chris in exasperation.

"Well to be frank it probably wouldn't be popular anyways. Now that everyone's back in their worlds most folks won't be interested in what Heather does anymore. At least last time they were tracking the progress of their worlds being saved." observed Chef.

"True. Guess we're gonna have to go back to filming reality shows back in our own world." he then tapped his chin, "Or we could file a request for King Mickey to… nah! Too much paperwork and the King is nowhere to be seen. But I was looking forward to stalking Heather a couple more years! Oh well, better start auditioning new teenagers." said Chris.

"Why not just use the same people like last time?" asked Chef.

"Oh please, without Heather there won't be any drama! Remember what happened to the ratings of TDA after Heather was eliminated? We thought Courtney would handle the drama but she just went crazy! The ratings bombed!" said Chris.

"Right... Well where are we gonna film? Wawakankwa is out of the question since a bunch of nuclear gummi waste ended up there after the world returned to normal." Said Chef.

"And? When has that stopped us? Whatever Chef…" said Chris, losing enthusiasm. "We'll just include the nuclear waste as a fun part of the season. You know, like the island is fighting back. In fact… I already have a name! Total Drama Revenge of the Island! And we can have a lot more challenges because of how everything has changed! It'll be the most dangerous and thrilling season yet! It's perfect Chef, perfect! Let's go go go!"

Chris rushed Chef to get back to their world to start this new show ASAP, as Chris was now excited about it.

* * *

Back in Castle Oblivion, the crate Heather ran into contained a Blizzard card that spilled out after Heather tripped over it. She walked forward but a Shadow appeared out of the ground. Heather didn't feel like fighting, so jumped over it and ran right to the door at the back of the room. However Heather got a surprise when she got to the door, it didn't open.

"Ugh. I hate this castle. Wait, the Keyblade can open any lock! Duh!" said Heather, realizing this. She held out the Keyblade and a beam shot from the Keyblade to the door, as she expected. What she did not expect was that the door would still not open. Annoyed, she cried "Darn…What's going on!"

A light flashed on the door, and an outline of a card appeared. Above in text, it read _Insert Room Card Here._

"Room card?" asked Heather, confused.

More text appeared below the outline.

"_You have to fight Heartless for room cards. They're the only way to get from room to room in this castle."_

Heather didn't even reply to this, but rather just turned around and walked up to the Heartless with an annoyed look on her face. She got in a battle stance but to her surprise, the Heartless did not move.

"Is this thing broken or something?" asked Heather.

She bent down and poked it, causing a light to flash. When the light died down, Heather was surrounded by five Shadows, which moved towards her.

"What the-ah!" yelled Heather as a Shadow scratched her. She replied by hitting the Heartless to her side, and then swinging the Keyblade forward to fend off two Heartless coming at her. She jumped after she sensed a Heartless behind her, and stabbed it, making it jump back. Heather lunged towards another Heartless in front of her, and slashed at it twice in a row, defeating it.

Then, Heather turned around to see a Shadow jumping at her. Doing something she had not done in a while, she pointed her Keyblade as her silver wig turned a dark blue. With a mighty force, she yelled, "Blizzard!" shooting an ice crystal straight towards the Shadow, vanquishing it. She turned around to slash another Heartless, sending it back towards another Shadow. Heather jumped and stabbed both, skewering them. A card jumped out at Heather from the vanquished Heartless that Heather caught. She did not have time to look at it as she turned around and faced the last shadow. She ran up to it, however when she tried to swing an invisible force stopped her.

"You're kidding me." said Heather. She looked at her Keyblade realizing that her deck had run out. She put her hand to her Heart and concentrated. After a couple moments of concentration, her deck was back up and running, however she was hit by a Shadow as soon as she had her cards back. She immediately countered by slashing the Heartless three times, vanquishing it. A light came from the sky to Heather's hand. It was a red card with a picture of a shadow.

"This must be a room card." said Heather to herself, gritting her teeth. She examined the other card. It was green and had a picture of a potion of it. She put it on her chain as she returned back to the room she was in before the battle began. She went up to the door, showed the card, and a light flashed, overcoming the card. The card disappeared and the door opened.

"Now we're getting somewhere." She said.

She walked through the door and was in a room similar to the third district. However there were different levels, more so than in the real third district. There were few Shadows and Red Nocturnes lurking about. Heather disregarded both the Heartless and the warped nature of the room. She walked left and jumped up the levels, avoiding Heartless when necessary. There were barrels and crates off to the side. Heather searched through the barrels for cards (and found another Blizzard and another Kingdom Key) and used the crate as a launching pad to the next level. She got to the highest point and spotted another door at the end.

She walked up to the door and muttered, "Dammit, I forgot to get another room card. And here I was thinking I had gotten the hang of this."

However as soon as she said this, two outlines formed on the door. One of the outlines was of a card similar to the golden one that Heather had from earlier. Heather realized that the card she had was needed to open this door, but that she also required another room card. She walked up to a nearby Red Nocturne and whacked it with her Keyblade. In the blink of an eye she was on a battlefield surrounded by three red Nocturnes and three Shadows. Heather's wig turned blue as she shot a Blizzard straight at the Red Nocturnes to break their formation.

"I missed doing that." She said.

She ran up and sent one Red Nocturne flying up with an upward slash, then knocked it back down by jumping and performing a downward slash. The Nocturne rammed into a Shadow, defeating both. Heather was about to run for another Shadow when a green card caught the corner of her eye. It was a Goofy card. She an up to it and grabbed it, narrowly avoiding a fireball launched by a Red Nocturne. She quickly summoned him, prompting the guard captain to appear.

"Oh, hi Heather!" He said, waving.

"Not now Goofy. Handle the Shadows and I'll take care of the Nocturnes." Commanded Heather. Goofy nodded and rammed into the Shadows repeatedly, defeating one and greatly damaging another. He was sent back into the light unbeknownst to Heather, who was dealing with the Nocturnes. She kept slashing but they kept dodging. Eventually all the useless slashes made her deck run dry, forcing her to try and re-summon the deck. Heather's concentration was broken by a fireball that hit her, charring her leg. The two Red Nocturnes kept shooting fireballs at her almost like a pattern, prompting her to dodge and try to regain concentration.

"Ugh this will never work." Said Heather.

She dodged another fireball and was lucky enough to regain the concentration needed. Her deck was re-summoned and she jumped up and slashed the two Nocturnes with great force, defeating them both. She turned around and stabbed the Shadow, defeating it due to being weakened by Goofy. Eventually another Room card appeared in her hand, with a picture of a Shadow just like the last one. She returned to the warped Third District room and went up to the door. She flashed both cards needed, and just like the last time, the door opened as the cards disappeared. Without hesitation she walked through it. She arrived in the regular third district, just as empty as the first district was.

"This way of fighting is a pain in the neck." Said Heather. "Maybe if I was with Harold, Donald, and Goofy, I'd have an easier time with this."

Three balls of lights appeared above Heather, and came down landing behind her. Each flashed and in their place was one of the three aforementioned allies.

"Ah! Don't you scare me like that!" cried Heather.

"Gosh! It's not our faults! We don't control where we appear!" replied Harold.

"Told you that you needed us to fight!" said Donald.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's just do…whatever it is that we're supposed to do." she said.

Meanwhile, Goofy saw something behind Heather that no one else did.

"Uh…guys?" asked Goofy.

"Yeah?" the three replied in unison.

Goofy pointed behind Heather and the three turned around. Behind her Pluto, the dog.

"Pluto?" asked Heather, astonished.

"Things keep getting stranger. How did he get here?" asked Harold.

"Well he did come here with us. Did he?" said Goofy, a little confused.

"I think so." said Donald. "My memory is a little fuzzy."

Jiminy jumped down from Heather's shoulder, standing on the floor.

"No, wait!" cried Jiminy. "According to my journal, it was before you met Heather and Harold that you came to this town with Pluto."

"Wak! He's right!" said Donald. "And later on we were chasing him and that's how we ended up in Castle Oblivion!"

"But aren't we in Traverse Town rather than Castle Oblivion?" asked Goofy

"Well, it's not really Traverse Town." Said Jiminy, "I think this Traverse Town was created by the card which was created by Heather's memories…right?"

"Bah! Whatever, this is all too confusing. Cards and memories, Hollow Bastion is beginning to look like paradise right about now." said Heather. "Let's stick to our usual strategy. We keep moving forward, defeat Heartless when necessary, and that way we'll get some answers."

"You'd better be careful, or it's the Heartless that's going to defeat you." said a man behind them. Rather than have a black coat, he had a blue uniform with a golden "X" on his chest, and a red visor. He had brown hair, and was none other than Scott. He began walking towards the group.

"Scott? What are you doing here in Castle Oblivion?" asked Heather.

"Castle Oblivion? What are you talking about? This is Traverse Town." He replied.

"Well weren't you and the X-Men going to rebuild your world?" said Harold.

"How do you know about the X-Men? Who are you?" asked Scott, firmly.

The group looked oddly as Scott, before Heather finally answered with her usual sarcasm, "Are you joking?"

"I've met a lot of people in this lifetime, but I've never met the likes of you before." said Scott.

"How could you forget us?" asked Harold, a little hurt.

"We fought Heartless together, remember? You and I both know that you remember who we are so quit the charade." said the keybearer.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. And I think I'd remember a girl as hostile as you." said the mutant.

"Plus I don't even know your names…sorry." He continued, assuming that this would hurt the group (and it did), but more to test them.

"I can't believe this." said Heather, angry (and a little hurt).

"I feel for you, but you've got the wrong guy. Happens all the time. Don't take it so personally, Heather."

"You DO know her name!" said Donald.

Once he realized he said her name, Scott covered his mouth as a smug grin appeared on Heather's face. "Where did that come from? How did I know that?"

"Hah! I knew you were lying!" said Heather.

"Heather, as weird as it might be, I actually think that he forgot about us." said Harold.

"Then how did he know my name?" asked Heather.

"Maybe he's just kidding around." said Goofy.

"Who's kidding around Goofy?" asked Scott. "You, Donald, and Harold are the only ones who-" realizing that he did it again, he covered his mouth in shock, not knowing how he knew the names of these complete strangers.

"Nice move." said Heather, the smug grin on her face getting bigger by the second.

"Ugh…something's wrong with my memory." said Scott. "What's going on here?"

"I don't know Scott. Maybe Professor Xavier was onto something after all." said a voice. The source was a girl with a semi-transparent green blouse over a black sleeveless shirt and black pants. She had brown hair with a white stripe. It was Rogue.

"Don't tell me, Weird Goth Girl #2 also forgot about us." Said Heather, as Rogue stood next to Scott.

"Nice to meet you too." Said Rogue, not enjoying the little insult from some random stranger. She turned to Scott and said, "He said he's sensed some form of weird power, and wants us to look into it. If this ain't weird power I don't know what is. Maybe you should take Heather to see him."

"Hah! Even Rogue knows my name! This is the saddest prank ever." said Heather, with the smug grin remaining on her face.

"And it looks like you do too despite insulting me." said Rogue.

"Sorry, force of habit."

"You know her?" Scott asked Rogue.

"Nope, total stranger. I think I'd remember a girl that bitter." said Rogue, narrowing her eyes. "However, I do know her name. Good news is that now we can skip the introductions since we apparently know each other."

"Heather, I don't they're lying." said Goofy.

"You expect me to believe that they forgot me?" asked Heather.

"Just factor in that possibility." said Harold.

"I'm gonna go tell this to Professor Xavier." said Rogue, to Scott, "Give them the grand tour in the meantime."

With that, Rogue walked out of the room with Pluto following for some inexplicable reason, leaving the group with just Scott.

"Well no use wondering any of this now. Professor Xavier will have answers in no time. Follow me." Said Scott, "There's Heartless roaming about and I want to make sure you're prepared for battle."

"Um…excuse me? I'm more than prepared for battle. I don't need help." said Heather, in response.

"Oh really? So you know how to combine cards for more powerful attacks?" asked Scott.

"Uh…"

"He knows about the cards?" asked Harold.

"Of course I do. Everyone does." said Scott, in response to Harold. He turned to Heather and said, "And that's what I thought, Heather. All you need to know is that the numbers on the cards mean more than just how powerful your strike is. You can combine three cards, and the combined values determine what move you can do. You'll automatically know what move you'll do, so go and try to find combinations. It really comes in handy."

"Thanks, actually. I guess since all of our abilities are gone, this is the closest I'll get to it." said Heather.

"However the first card in your combination will not reappear in your deck. Use the cards wisely." said Scott.

"So then it really is just a big mind game. I guess in order to win, you just have to play your cards right." said Harold, laughing at his own joke. Heather responded by slapping the back of his head, and she was so accustomed to.

"Much better." said Heather.

"Think you get the gist of it, Heather?" asked Scott.

"I've got a good enough interpretation of it. I'll try it out in battle to test it out." said Heather.

"Remember what I told you and make good use of it." the mutant said. "Also here, I found this and thought you might need it."

Scott gave Heather a card. It was blue and on it was a picture of Woody Woodpecker.

"Meet up with us and Professor Xavier." said Scott, as he walked away.

"It's Woody." observed Heather.

"Maybe this card will summon him like a summon gem." the geek said.

"Well that's obvious." said Heather, putting the card in her deck. A light shone above them and down came another card. This one gold like the one Heather used to enter the third district, but instead of a key on it, it had a heart.

"Another one." said Heather. She turned around and saw that Harold, Donald, and Goofy had disappeared. She was all alone.

"Ugh, here we go again." said Heather, as she walked out of the room.


	4. Fidgeting Memories in a Town, pt 2

Heather was back in the distorted third district room. She was thinking to herself about what it is she should do. There were Heartless roaming about, but she did not bother with them as she was too busy trying to figure out what her next course of action was.

"Scott told me to meet up with him, but where?" asked Heather to herself, thinking aloud, "Ugh, stupid mutant. Nothing in this castle makes sense. Every room leads to a distorted room. The only room that was normal was…the room where I had to use the golden card…" She took out the golden card with the picture of a heart on it. "The golden cards must be important since they lead to the regular Traverse Town areas. Guess I just need to keep going until I find a door that needs this key to be opened. Right?"

Heather was thinking about going straight to the next door that she could find, but remembered that no matter what, she would need Room cards to continue. She walked up to a shadow and hit it on its head with her Keyblade. In the blink of an eye she was on a battlefield, surrounded by two Shadows, a Soldier, and two Red Nocturnes. Because she hit the Shadow, they were all dazed, giving Heather a head start. She decided the best move would be to break their formation, and the best way to do that would be to summon Woody. She lifted her Keyblade and called his name, and down he flew to the battlefield.

"He he he he he! He he he he he! He he he he he!" he said, sounding like a siren. Without even talking to Heather, he went up to the Soldier and began pecking at it, taking the armored helmet it had as a challenge. After a couple moments all of the pecking got to it and the Soldier was vanquished while all of the other Heartless got back to normal. The Nocturnes both fired fireballs at Heather, which she dodged. Unfortunately she was hit by a Shadow who scratched her. Irritated, her wig turned dark blue as she shot one Blizzard at the Shadow point blank, killing it. She ran up to one of the Nocturnes and shot another Blizzard, but it missed. The two Nocturnes once again shot fireballs at Heather, though this time both hit. She cursed under her breath and used her potion card.

She decided to try combining her top three cards in the deck, with the numbers adding up to 13 (though Heather didn't know the total value as she didn't care about the numbers so much as just combining cards and just hoping to see results). It allowed her to slide directly at a Shadow in front of her with her Keyblade out, performing the Sliding Dash. Because Heather had never done a Sliding Dash before she was taken off-guard by it and it wasn't as powerful as it could have been. Instead she just turned around and hit the Shadow one more time, killing it before it had the chance to attack. She could feel her deck running empty so she decided to re-summon the lost cards she had, but before anything could happen she saw a green card in the corner of her eye. It was Harold. Unfortunately, she was too distracted by seeing the card to notice the Nocturnes shooting fireballs at her. Both fireballs connected with her, distracting her. However she still ran as fast as she could to the card, which she picked up and proceeded to summon immediately.

"Harold!" she cried. In a flash of light, Harold was there bowing like a knight. He was obviously prepared to be summoned.

"How can I help, m'lady?" he asked, trying to sound chivalrous.

"Stop acting like a nerd and kill them!" commanded Heather.

Harold took out his num-yos and shot them at the Nocturnes, tying them both up together. They began powering up a fireball, but Harold jumped and slammed down his nunchakus on them, vanquishing both. Harold bowed and disappeared as two cards came to Heather from the deceased Heartless. One was a room card, it was red and had a photo of a Shadow on it. Unlike the other card, this one had **-2 **written on it. The other was blue and had a photo of a Cure leaf on it. It was a Cure card.

Heather reappeared in the distorted room and added the Cure card to her deck. She decided to try and avoid Heartless. She jumped down all of the levels, avoiding Heartless when possible. When she got to the bottom she went right and jumped up another set of platforms and arrived at a third door. Unlike the other door, the room did not require the golden card.

"Where the hell am I supposed to go? UGH This is so stupid!" said Heather, agitated with the Castle. "Well maybe there's a door through here that leads to where the X-Men are. At least there'd better be…" She flashed her room card and the door opened. This time she was in another distorted room similar to the third district, but this one has far less levels. It was more flat and level then the other one. She could see two doors in the room: one on the left and one straight ahead. She headed for the one on the left but felt something on her leg. She looked down and saw the antennae of a Shadow rubbing off on her leg.

"ARE YOU FREAKING KID-"

Before she could continue yelling, she was in the battlefield surrounded by two Shadows, a Soldier, and two Nocturnes just like the last time. She ran up to attack a Shadow, but instead found a Donald card on the ground to her surprise. She picked it up and continued going to the Shadow. She combined her top three cards, equaling 14, and performed the Sliding Dash, which now worked in her favor. Because the Shadows and Soldier were in a line, she perfectly slid from one side to the other, damaging all three. A Red Nocturne went up to tackle her but she fended it off with her Keyblade, blocking. "Donald!" she yelled, as the wizard came to her aide. This time they didn't even talk, as Donald saw the two Red Nocturnes and knew what to do. He used Blizzard twice, vanquishing both Heartless. With his work done, Donald disappeared. For some reason, the Heartless were weaker than in the other room. She went back to the Shadow and hit it twice, before getting hit in the back by a Soldier. She retaliated by shooting a Blizzard at the Shadow, then stabbing the Soldier, vanquishing it. She shot a Blizzard at the Shadow again, truly defeating it. Heather's wig turned green as she casted Cure, and she finished off the last Shadow with a swing of her Keyblade.

"Hey, I'm getting better at this." She said, smiling as another two cards came to her. One was red on the outside, but where the photo should have been, it was pitch black, with yellow dots representing eyes everywhere. Heather identified it as a room card. The other one was red, but had a photo of a Kingdom Key on it like the other cards in her deck. She took the card as another chance to hit Heartless, so she added it to her deck before she saw a flash of light.

Back she was in the distorted room. Heather went up to the door she was heading to before entering the battle. She held up the Gold card and the room card. Both disappeared as the door opened.

"I'd better be right about Professor Xavier being here or this whole castle is gonna be burned to the ground." Said Heather, entering through the door. On the other side, she realized that she was at the X-Men's training base below Traverse Town. Scott, Rogue, Kitty, Evan, Kurt, Pluto, and Professor Xavier were all there, talking amongst each other. Heather walked up to them as Harold, Donald, and Goofy appeared behind her.

"Who're they?" asked Kurt, pointing to her, being the first one to notice her.

"They're with me." Said Scott. "They could help us and Professor Xavier with the problems we've been having lately with our memories."

"Oh what? Even freaky blue boy forgot me?" asked Heather, rhetorically and angering Kurt a little. "Who else forgot me? Kitty? Evan? Professor Xavier? Good to know who your friends are."

"Heather calm down, I'm sure it's not their faults." Said Harold, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Yeah, it's not like they wanted to forget us." Said Goofy.

"They probably couldn't forget us if they wanted." Said Donald. "Rogue said that."

"I did?" asked Rogue.

"Calm down - um what did you say her name was?" asked Professor Xavier, whispering to Scott.

"Heather." Replied Scott.

"I can hear you!" she said, irritated and putting her hands on her hips.

"Ah yes, Heather. Do not worry, whatever is the matter should be fixed in no time!" said Professor Xavier. "Now, I may not remember who any of you are, but just knowing your name doesn't feel all too strange."

"That's exactly how I felt." Said Rogue.

"Don't you remember?" asked Harold, "I mean of course you'd know our names, everyone does. We were pretty much the stars, I mean victims, of Chris's show. He filmed us fighting Heartless! Not to mention that we fought the Heartless together when we staged an invasion against Hollow Bastion _and_ we fought against each other in the Coliseum!" said Harold, attempting to refresh their memories.

"It feels like you're right, but I just can't remember and I don't know why." Said Scott.

"Then I guess you forgot what you told me after said invasion." Said Heather. She stuck her chest up in an attempt to imitate Scott's demeanor, "We may never meet again…"

"But we'll never forget each other…" said Scott.

"See! You do remember!" said Donald.

"They're right Scott! I remember you saying that!" said Kitty.

"Me too!" said Evan.

"If you both remember then I guess I can't right it off as a coincidence." Said Scott.

"Even though we remember bits and pieces, we can't remember the full story." Said Professor Xavier, analyzing the situation. "We can't remember everything, but it appears as though our hearts are remembering for us."

"Our hearts?" asked Heather, interested in what Xavier had to say. After a while of being in nothing but a web of confusion and cards, she looked forward to anything the old man had to say as it was usually correct.

"I think I'm beginning to understand. Heather, Harold, Donald, Goofy…" began Xavier, "We can't remember you, sorry to say. But your hearts are full of memories, and those memories must also resonate in our Hearts. Those memories in our hearts are telling us things that otherwise, we wouldn't know. Understand?"

"Yeah…actually." Said Heather.

"Kind of like, Heather's heart is remembering for you." Said Harold.

"Yes." Replied Professor Xavier, "Your memories are powerful enough that they are affecting ours. Almost as if the memories are being transferred through any connections your heart has."

"But that doesn't explain why you can't remember me In the first place." Said Heather.

"To that I haven't an answer." Said Professor Xavier, "But maybe you know the answer."

"Except that if I knew the answer, I wouldn't be asking." Said Heather, confused at what the Professor was trying to achieve. "I mean it's not like I willed all of this to happen."

"But Heather," said Jiminy, "Remember what the figure said. The town is an illusion created by your memories."

"And if this town _is_ an illusion, then the people would have no business remembering you." said Goofy, surprising everyone with his good response.

"But they still remember some parts. An illusion wouldn't remember anything, right? Bah, Whatever." Said Heather, "At this point, everything is becoming way too confusing for my own good."

"I felt a weird power earlier and whatever it was, it affected our memories." Said Professor Xavier. "I intend to research this further to come to a resolution. Would you like to help me Heather?"

"Do I have any other choice?" asked Heather.

"That's the spirit!" said Evan.

"Look around town and tell me if you find anything suspicious." Said Professor Xavier. "There may be either a source for this mess, or a solution to this problem. Report back to me when you come across something."

"Is there a reason you guys can't also look around?" said Heather, "It's not like you're useless in battle."

"We must stay here. I want to see if the problem lies in us rather than an external force. I wish to mentally examine my students." Said Xavier.

Heather had an odd expression on her face after hearing the words 'mental examination'. Kurt noticed and to put her at ease, said, "Don't worry, he won't do anything unethical."

"Alright. See you guys later." Said Heather, as she walked out of the room surrounded by her teammates. In the corner of her eye was a flash and in her hand was now another golden card. This one had a Heartless insignia on it. She walked out and was back in the distorted room.

"Hmm I wonder if I can find anything out of the ordinary." Said Heather sarcastically, looking directly and the distorted nature of the room and the Heartless that weren't hostile.

She went over to the only other door in the room. She got to it and saw that it wasn't the door that required the golden card. Remembering that she didn't have another room card, and cursing under her breath, she went up to a Shadow and hit it on its head with her Keyblade.

Just like the last few times she was now on a battlefield. In front of her stood three Shadows and two Soldiers. She ran up to a Soldier and swung her Keyblade at it, but the Soldier used its head armor to block the attack. Heather retaliated by swinging her Keyblade once more, but not at the Soldier, but at the Shadow next to it, sending it back. She swung her Keyblade horizontally twice more, vanquishing the Shadow. A Shadow snuck up on her from behind, but she moved swiftly dodging its attack. Heather swung her Keyblade at the Shadow twice, then cast Blizzard on it, vanquishing it. She turned around only to be whacked in the face by a Soldier. She hit the Soldier and cast Blizzard on it, vanquishing it, then turning around and hitting a Shadow behind her. The Shadow jumped at her but she fended it off and stabbed it, defeating it. Heather went for the last Soldier, but behind it appeared two red Nocturnes and two Blue Rhapsodies. Behind the Blue Rhapsodies was a green card with the face of Goofy. Heather summoned Woody, who began distracting the Soldier. In the meantime she held out her Keyblade to guard against fireballs and ice crystals sent by the Heartless, while diving to get the card. The second she got it, she summoned Goofy.

"Goofy, I have an idea. Launch one of the Heartless up." Said Heather. Goofy nodded and did exactly as he was told. He went up to a Blue Rhapsody and sent it skyward. Heather jumped up and sent it back down at Goofy, who smashed it with his shield. He went over to a Red Nocturne and did the same thing, as did Heather, defeating it. Goofy disappeared, as did Woody who efficiently defeated the Soldier. The Red Nocturne shot fireballs at Heather, who was hit by them. She used Cure and realized she was running out of cards. She ran out of range from the Heartless's hits and re-summoned her cards, putting all her concentration into bringing them back, and it worked. She turned around and went straight for a Blue Rhapsody, ignoring Fireballs sent by a Red Nocturne. Heather jumped and with a downward slash, brought the Heartless down. She stabbed it once more to defeat it, but was hit in the back by a Fireball in the process. Heather went up to the last remaining Heartless and cast Blizzard twice, killing it. Out of the Heartless came a blue card with a photo of a treasure chest on it.

"This is a different color than other room cards. Is this even one?" asked Heather. She went up to the door to test it. She held up the card, and it worked. The card disappeared and the door opened. This room was once again, a distorted version of the third district. However it was just a courtyard with a treasure chest in the center. No Heartless to be seen. There were two doors, one on the left and one on the right. She decided to go to the treasure chest first.

"Labyrinths and treasure chests? This really is a nerd's game." Said Heather. She walked up to the treasure chest and opened it. Inside were two cards. Another Kingdom Key with a 9 on it, and a red card with a photo of a Shadow. It was another room card.

"Now this is more like it." She said.

She went to the door on the left and saw that it required the gold card she had. She held up the gold card, and the room card she got from the treasure chest. Both disappeared in her hands as the door opened up. She walked through to find that she was now in the second district of Traverse Town.

"Alright, let's find something suspicious." She said.

She looked up at the gadget shop and looked at the bell.

"When was the last time that bell rung?"

Suddenly her memory began rushing to her, and she remembered the time when she was tricked into ringing the bell under the pretense that she would _find her fate._

"Wait…find my fate….maybe the bell...will restore everyone's memories." Said Heather.

"Heather, wait!" she heard. She turned around and saw Harold, Donald, and Goofy running towards her.

"Are you seriously considering ringing the bell?" asked Harold.

"Do you have any better ideas?" asked Heather. "Remember that the bell is where you supposedly find fate."

"But wasn't that a lie?" asked Donald. Weren't you just told that to get you to fight Heartless by yourself?"

"I….think so…maybe? I honestly can't remember that well…" said Heather. "All I remembered was 'bell' and 'find your fate' and that sounded suitable for the situation."

"Well, we haven't any other idea." Said Goofy. "Ringing that bell can't hurt, right?"

"Why, it's Heather!" said a voice from behind them. They looked back to see Dexter the boy genius walking towards them. "Wait, how do I know your name I've never met you before." Said Dexter.

"Of course you haven't." said Heather.

"But you look like a Heather with your thin body proportion and your long…silver hair?" asked Dexter, confused as to why this girl would have silver hair.

"Just forget it. You're right Dexter. My name is Heather." Said Heather.

"I really am a genius!" said Dexter. "And you also know me! Well I mean of course you do I'm one of the smartest people in the universe."

Not wanting to deal with his arrogance, Heather tried changing the subject. "Well, nice meeting you. We'd better get going, we need to go ring the bell."

"Oh you don't want to do that!" warned Dexter.

"Why not?" asked Donald.

"This town has been overrun with Heartless lately. Worse, there's a big Heartless that shows up whenever the bell rings." Said Dexter.

Harold, Donald, and Goofy looked angrily at Heather, who was about to ring the bell.

"Oh, what!" she said, "It's not like you would have fought a big Heartless as much as I would have! Plus how was I supposed to know!"

Harold began saying, "Well then I guess we need to find some other way to bring back the memories of-"

Harold was interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing. Everyone looked up at the gadget shop.

"Well….good luck!" said Dexter, running away screaming, "Please don't hurt me! I just want to live to see Gummi ships turned into commercial aircrafts!"

Heather, Harold, Donald, and Goofy looked oddly before turning back to look at the gadget shop. They took out their weapons in case of an incoming big Heartless.

"You guys should be disappearing any time now. If I summon any of you during battle, you will attack whatever you see without hesitation unless I say otherwise." Said Heather.

Everyone nodded in agreement as giant pieces of armor fell from the sky. It was the Guard armor.

Harold, Donald, and Goofy disappeared as the armor assembled itself just like the last time that the group fought it. Heather got into a battle stance and stared at the Guard Armor, whose limbs were floating around and being idle. Heather ran up to the left foot and slashed it twice, but was kicked by the right foot and was sent back. She turned around sharply and combined her top three cards quickly (total: 11). She performed the Sliding Dash, hitting both feet before arriving at the other side. Heather turned around and saw the left hand becoming a drill, headed right for her. She put her Keyblade in front of her, guarding herself. A foot snuck up behind her and kicked her, making her lose her guard and causing her to be hit by the hand drill. Heather winced in pain as she quickly sidestepped out of harms way. She cast Cure and turned around, casting Blizzard on a foot. She saw the right hand becoming a drill and heading for her, but she ducked and dodged it, before getting up and casting Blizzard again on the other foot. She turned around and hit the hand with her Keyblade. She faced the body as the right hand became a drill again.

"Ugh I need a distraction or else I'll be overwhelmed. Wait, that's it!" said Heather. "Woody!"

Down came the woodpecker doing its signature laugh. Heather commanded him to go for the hands, which he did do. He went up to the hands and began pecking at them, switching between both of them, not giving either a chance of becoming a drill. She used her potion as she went up to the feet and kept hitting them with her Keyblade relentlessly. One of them moved up to stomp her but she did a dodge roll. She got up and combined her top three cards (total: 14) and performed the Sliding Dash as the foot got back onto the ground. Both feet were injured, and she turned around and hit the foot again. Woody disappeared and the hands were weakened greatly. The hands connected to the torso, which then spun rapidly. Heather was hit sharply by both hands and was sent back flying, greatly bruised. She realized that her deck had run empty. She began concentrating but noticed a green card bouncing around in the corner of her eye, behind the Guard Armor. Heather ran up to the Guard Armor as the hands both became drills and aimed for her. The hands were shot away from the torso and went headed straight for Heather. She ducked, and they hit the wall behind her. She ran up to the Guard Armor and slid under it, coming out behind it. She grabbed the card and saw that it was Harold. She summoned him, and he came out.

"Harold, attack anything you see. I don't care what, I need a distraction." Said Heather.

Harold nodded and took out his num-yos, tying up the feet together. He went up to them and began hitting them with his nunchakus. Meanwhile Heather was concentrating hard to re-summon her deck.

"_Focus, cards…return…_" she thought. She felt a sudden surge of power and opened her eyes to see her deck had returned. She smiled, but her celebration was broken by a not-so pleasant situation. She saw a flash of light and Harold, and his num-yos, were gone. The arms recovered and went back to the body, which jumped up high. The pieces separated in the air and were falling back down fast, right over Heather. She combined her top three cards and did a Sliding Dash to evade. She casted Cure as the pieces fell down, missing Heather. The Guard Armor assembled again and Heather went back to her old strategy. She summoned Woody, who once again distracted the arms while Heather went for the legs. They both jumped up, with the intent of stomping on Heather. She casted Blizzard on the ground and did a dodge roll. The Feet slipped when they stomped down on the icy ground, giving Heather a chance to go up to them and attack them with her Keyblade. She stabbed each foot and then did a horizontal swing, hitting both. Heather saw a green card at the corner of her eye, a Donald card. She ran up to it as Woody disappeared behind her, once again damaging the hands. She grabbed it, a Goofy card. She summoned Goofy who came to the scene.

"Goofy, remember what we did last time?" asked Heather frantically in the midst of battle.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Well we're doing it now." She said, pointing to the feet that were struggling to get up off of the frozen surface. Goofy nodded and they ran over to the feet, narrowly avoiding another hand drill. Goofy shot one of the feet up with his Shield, which was shot back down by Heather who had jumped up and hit it with a downward slash. The foot crashed into the other foot, hurting them both. Heather helped launch Goofy up high, who came crashing down on both feet, which were breaking, trapped between ice and a hard shield. The feet both gave way and disintegrated as Goofy has disposed of hem. He disappeared and Heather went up to face the hands and torso. The hands floated away form the torso and kept punching the ground, trying to hit Heather, who kept on dodging, sidestepping when possible. Heather did a back flip in the air, and when she was directly over one of the hands, she did a downward slash, defeating the already weakened hand. The other hand did a hand drill in a desperate attempt to win, but Heather had dodged and went up behind the hand. She lifted her Keyblade up high for the mercy hit, but was hit by something else. While Heather was dodging the hand drill, the torso had begun rapidly spinning around the battlefield, and it was able to sweep up Heather, saving the hand. Heather was thrown off the rapidly spinning torso and thrown against the wall of the bell tower. The impact strong enough to make the entire building shake and the bell ring. Heather fell down, greatly in pain from the impact and the wind knocked out of her. She looked at her keychain to see she did not have any Cure cards available at the moment. She looked up to see a Hand drill coming right at her. She rolled away and as a last resort, quickly threw her Keyblade straight at the hand, finally killing it.

She saw the torso spinning again and a green card at the other end of the district. It was a Donald card. Heather looked at her deck and saw she only had about three Kingdom Key cards left, enough for one Sliding Dash. She ran to the other side, desperately avoiding the torso. She dove for the card, summoning Donald no more than a second after getting it.

"Donald, distract it, now!" said Heather in a bossy state, not wanting to waste any precious moments. Donald nodded and shot a fireball at the Torso. It noticed Donald and came closer to it, who was aiming for a second fireball. At the same time, Heather was climbing up onto the second story. Standing at the edge, she was waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

"Fire!" said Donald, firing a fireball at it. It connected with the torso, hitting it. At the same time as the fireball launched, Heather jumped off the ledge and over the Guard Armor's torso. When she was directly over it, she used her last three cards and performed a Sliding Dash directly down, slicing the torso in half. Donald disappeared as the torso split in half, each half disintegrating as a heart came out from inside and floated up. Heather had won, and she was eyeing her prize: A park bench where she could rest. However something else caught her eye, a black card laying where the Guard Armor was.

With the little energy she had left, she walked over to the card and saw that the photo was of the Guard Armor. She added it to her deck and walked over to the park bench, sitting for a well deserved rest. She heard footsteps. She looked to her right to see Harold, Donald, and Goofy walking towards her. On the left was the X-Men and Dexter, also walking towards her.

"Are you okay Heather?" asked Kitty, concerned.

"Oh yea, I'm just freaking dandy!" said Heather, waving her hands over her head to illustrate her sarcasm.

"You were right, you really can fight." Said Scott.

"So Heather, I take it you couldn't find what's causing all of the memory problems?" asked Professor Xavier

"Oh I don't know Professor-does-nothing-while-Heather-fights-alone-not-supported-by-super-mutants Xavier! You tell me!" said Heather, a little irritated that she had no help from the X-Men.

"We were busy." Said Kurt.

"Doing what?" asked Heather.

"With the mental examinations, all of which returned absolutely nothing." Said Rogue.

"Calm down Heather. You're okay and that's what matters." Said Harold.

"True, I am okay. But I'm okay and I wanna get the hell out of this town and back to the castle." Said Heather.

"We need to get going too. There are reports of Heartless attacking the third district." said Professor Xavier.

"Ugh, just great. Leave it to me," said Heather, getting up from the bench reluctantly, "I can handle it."

"You just fought your battle." said Rogue. "Now it's time we fight ours and protect our town."

"But I can handle it." said Heather, putting pride before physical condition.

"Heather it's okay, it's their battle." said Harold.

"It's not about whether you can handle something or not." said Scott, "Wherever you go Heather, whatever situation you come across, I know you'll be able to handle it. Even if I don't remember you at the present moment, and I may not remember you in the future-"

"Which may be a blessing or a curse." Interjected Rogue, earning a scowl from Heather.

"I may not remember you, but I know that you'll be in my heart." Finished Scott.

"And so long as we hold each other in our hearts, we won't need memories to remember each other. Our hearts evoke the emotions that our memories would. Now come on team, let's go." Said Professor Xavier.

"Best of Luck with everything, Heather…" said Rogue.

"Harold," said Dexter.

"Donald," said Evan.

"and Goofy." Finished Kurt.

"Good luck with the Heartless." Said Goofy.

"Take care!" said Donald.

"Don't forget about me this time!" said Heather, as they walked away. Heather, Harold, Donald and Goofy turned around but saw Kitty in the middle of the plaza, standing alone.

"Oh, hey…Kitty. Something wrong?" Said Heather, a little creeped out by Kitty just standing there.

"I'm not as smart as Professor Xavier so I don't have any answers to whatever question you will soon ask me." Said Kitty, getting confused stares from the group.

"What?" asked Donald.

"Your memories created this town, correct?" asked Kitty.

"What's what the nerd in the coat said." Replied Heather.

"If that's true, then this town is just a figment of your mind, and so are we." Said Kitty.

"But you can't be a figment, you're standing right here!" said Harold.

Heather slapped the back of his head,

"You idiot, she's right! How could I not see it before. That's why no one remembers us, cause they're not the people we know!" said Heather, coming to a realization.

"Exactly." Said Kitty, "I don't remember the things I should. Heather, beware your memories. In your coming journey I am afraid you will be faced with more illusions. The shadows of your memories will possible deceive you and attempt to lead you astray."

"So how do I know what's real and what's fake?" asked Heather.

"I'm sorry but I'm just another illusion." Said Kitty. "The truth it out of my reach."

"Well that's a happy thought." Said Donald, sarcastically.

"It's true though." Said Heather.

"Stay strong Heather, don't let illusions distract you from your ultimate goal." Said Kitty

"NO AMOUNT OF ILLUSIONS COULD EVER DISTRACT ME FROM RESCUING MY SWEET LESHAWNA!" yelled Harold, getting stares from everyone and a slap in the head from Heather.

"Not now Harold, we're kind of getting important info here!" said Heather.

"Well that is the ultimate goal though, right? That and the king?" asked Donald.

"Uh…guys?" asked Goofy. He pointed to where Kitty was. She was no longer there.

"Wak! She's gone!" cried Donald.

"That girl is smarter than we give her credit for. Good info and great exit, I'm impressed." Said Heather. "Alright, let's get going. Nothing left to do here." Said Heather.

"Where do we go?" asked Goofy.

"Maybe there's a way out in the first district." Said Heather. She and her friends walked up to the second level and went up to the big doors which usually separated the first and second districts. As usual, Goofy and Harold opened the doors while Heather stood there. She walked through the door but wasn't in the first district, she was in another distorted room. This one though was different. There were no Heartless, just two levels. One she was standing on, and one much, much higher up connected only by a ladder.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Heather, annoyed at the ladder. She looked back to see that Harold, Donald, and Goofy were gone. She mumbled angrily as she began walking up the ladder. When she got to the top there was a doorway, but no door. Just light. She ran through it, blinded by the light, with Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappearing as she walked past it. The four arrived in another hallway back in the castle like the first one, but wider. It had white walls and white pillars. There was a grand stairway at the end rather than a door. What caught their eyes though was not the stairway nor the pillars, but rather the figure in the black coat from earlier, standing there at the end, not saying a word but just looking at them.

* * *

**A.N.: **Please review and tell us your thoughts.


	5. The Grinning Flames

The last thing Heather wanted to see was the figure from earlier, yet there he stood like a parasite at the end of the hall in his oversized black coat. Upon seeing him, Heather and her friends got into their battle stances, not knowing what to expect from him.

"So Heather," he began, his voice just as deep and scratchy as ever, "Did you enjoy meeting your memories?"

"Oh yeah, totally. It was so much fun. We went shopping and we reminisced about all the fun stuff we did." replied Heather, with the most obvious sarcasm ever. She scoffed, and said "Like I'd tell you what happens."

"You mean about how you spent half the time thinking they forgot you only to find out they weren't real?" the figure asked, smug.

"Yup, pretty much." replied Harold, earning glares from his team. "Oops…"

"What was the point of having me go through my memories?" asked Heather, "What do you want from me?"

"What do you have to give?" asked the figure. "Unless…do you have a mint condition Chewbacca action figure unopened?" he asked, excited.

Harold began slowly raising his hand but Heather said, "No, I'd never have something so nerdy." Hearing that, Harold put his hand down.

"Hey!" the figure said, angrily walking towards them. They readied their weapons but, a dark portal opened behind the figure, stopping him dead in his tracks. Everyone looked to see who was coming out of the portal. It was another person with an oversized black coat, but this time, the hood was down. It was a teenage boy, about Heather and Harold's age with tan skin and blue hair and taller than the first figure. He had a necklace with black lace and white beads.

"Well hello there!" he said, winking at Heather, upon entering. Heather shuddered as the figure turned around.

"Why is your hood down?" said the figure to the boy. "Did you not get my memo about keeping hoods on around the Keyblade wielder at all times?"

"Oh that," began the teenager, "I thought that was just a fancy napkin with writing on it. And this face is too beautiful to be left under an oversized hood."

"Why you!" cried the figure, angrily.

"Would you two like a moment or something?" asked Heather.

"No, we're fine." Said both the teenager and the figure at the same time.

"Why are you here?" asked the figure.

"Well I didn't want you having all the fun with her." said the boy, "Leave some for me, brah."

The figure threw a blue card at the teen, who caught it in his hand.

"Fine, you're up." Said the figure, disappearing into a portal. The boy walked up to the group who readied their weapons.

"Whoah, whoah, you can put your weapons down for now. I'm not here to hurt you." He said, putting his elbow on Heather's shoulder. She glared at him and moved her shoulder. He stood in front of her and said, "I'm just a lost soul looking for a partner in this dark, lonely life. Luckily, you fit the bill nicely. "

Heather, disgusted, punched him in the face and backed up as her three friends stood in front of her.

"Leave her alone!" said Donald.

"Oh come on!" the teen blew a raspberry, "Why don't you use that Keyblade to open your heart! If it's commitment you're afraid of, then it's fine! I'm also scared of commitment!"

A dark portal opened up behind him and the figure came out, half his body.

"No flirting with the Keyblade wielder!" said the figure, dumbstruck at how someone working for the same side as him could be so stupid as to flirt with the enemy. He disappeared as soon as he entered. Seeing no chance of charming the Keyblade wielder's heart (like he ever had a chance), he walked back and put a serious demeanor on.

"Alright? That's how you want it?" he asked, "So be it. My show now, Keyblade wielder!"

"Who are you?" asked Goofy.

"The name's Jonesy," he said, "Might wanna remember it because from now on, when you hear it, you'll be driven mad."

"I'll be driven mad alright…" said Heather in response to Jonesy's comment.

"So Heather, now that we know each other so well, how about we turn up the heat on this conversation?" asked Jonesy. He put his head down and stuck out his hands. Flames appeared on his shoulders and rushed down his arms to his hands, where they materialized into Chakrams, one on each hand. They were red, with spikes coming out of them. Jonesy held them in both hands.

He raised his head, and smirked, "Just don't die, I prefer beauty like yours be left alive."

"And I prefer that disgustingness of yours be locked up tight, pervert." said Heather. A light between the two flashed, leaving Heather to cover her eyes as she had gotten accustomed to. She opened her eyes when the lights dimmed and saw she was on a white platform in the midst of a dark sky. Harold, Donald, and Goofy were gone leaving her with just Jonesy.

"Bring it on, sweet cheeks." he said.

Disgusted, Heather cast the Guard Amor card, not knowing it's effect, and ran up to hit Jonesy. He blocked with one Chakram, and hit Heather in the waist with the other. She didn't flinch from the pain at all, but rather just hit Jonesy again, this time landing a hit. She hit him two more times, all landing. Jonesy was sent flying but he launched his Chakram at her, sending it flying like a frisbee. She dodged it and ran up to hit Jonesy again, but was hit in the back by the Chakram, which had come back to its owner like a boomerang. Heather combined the top three cards in her deck (total-10) and performed the Sliding Dash at Jonesy. Seeing it coming, he teleported out of the way with a dark portal, leaving Heather there angry. He reappeared behind her and threw both his Chakrams at her while they were engulfed in flames, both hitting and burning her. She winced in pain as she turned around and cast Cure. She ran up to Jonesy, making him hold up both his Chakrams to guard. However Heather jumped over him, using the Chakrams as a launching pad, and cast Blizzard twice at Jonesy. Both times he was hit, hitting him hard. She landed on the other side of him and hit him in the back with a swing of her Keyblade. He turned around to retaliate, but she had backed away quickly. A Donald card appeared in the side of the arena, and she quickly formulated a plan. Jonesy was engulfed in flames, and rushed up to Heather, gliding, still engulfed in flames. His variation of a Sliding Dash. She dodged him stepping aside and ran up to get Donald. She grabbed the card, but decided to summon someone else first.

"Woody!"

The Woodpecker came down and saw his target.

"Ah! Stupid bird!" yelled Jonesy, being pecked relentlessly by the bird. He kept trying to hit Woody with his chakrams but nothing worked. While this was happening, Heather summoned Donald. In a flash of light the court wizards was standing there, and Heather commanded him to use Blizzard on Jonesy while he was distracted by Woody, as it was his weakness. Donald casted Blizzard twice at Jonesy, a the icy attacks clearly drained his health. Woody had disappeared and Jonesy regained his composure. He scanned the area looking for Heather, but was interrupted when he felt a huge pain in his back. He turned around to see Heather had just hit him with her Keyblade.

"So that's how you want it, huh?" yelled Jonesy, angry, "BURN!"

He held up both his chakrams and five pillars of flame came down on the battlefield. Heather had jumped back, avoiding them. It wasn't over yet, as from out of the pillars, a wave of fire passed by, engulfing the entire area. Heather was as the edge of the arena, while the wave quickly approaching. She cast Blizzard, but nothing happened. She had failed to notice that she had no more Blizzard cards. She was engulfed in the flames, suffering major burns and bruises in the process. The flames disappeared, leaving her and Jonesy on the battlefield. The fire had taken its toll on Heather, who becoming more and more exhausted.

"Wow, and here I was thinking you couldn't get any hotter." Said Jonesy.

Heather used a potion and closed her eyes, concentrating on the cards returning. She felt a surge of power, meaning her deck was back. When she opened her eyes she was greeted by two flaming chakrams in the face, hurting her. She quickly dodged to the left the first and to the right the second But the last one cut off a centimeter of her wig.

"No my wig!" said Heather, glaring daggers to Jonesy. "YOU WILL PAY!"

She ran up to Jonesy, Keyblade in hand, and began slashing relentlessly, not giving in. Jonesy was trying to keep up, but found Heather to be very agile and relentless. He let his guard down for a second and was hit five times in the face by Heather's Keyblade. Heather backed up and cast Blizzard, hurting him, causing him to yell in pain. He ran up to her, chakrams engulfed in flames, and began slashing at her as she did to him. She blocked every hit, not letting her guard down once. He teleported to the center of the room and yelled, "Burn!" holding up both his chakrams. Like before, five pillars of flame came down. Knowing what to do, Heather ran to the edge of the arena. A wave of fire began expanding as it engulfed the arena. Heather cast Blizzard on the wave, creating a little opening in the fire. Heather then jumped through the spot she cast Blizzard on, not getting hit. She began hitting Jonesy as the wave behind her disappeared. He threw a flame-engulfed chakram at her, while blocking with the other. The chakram he threw hit Heather from behind when the chakram came back to Jonesy. Now having both of his chakrams he began attacking Heather, who was having a more difficult time Blocking. She ducked and hit Jonesy from under with her Keyblade, hitting him in a very….painful area.

Jonesy fell to the floor, eyes widened, muttering, "Mommy…" A blue card appeared in the edge of the arena, which Heather grabbed. It was a fire card. She added it to her deck, and the arena disappeared and soon Heather and Jonesy were back at the castle, with Harold, Donald, and Goofy.

"A fitting punishment for such a creep." Said Heather, as Jonesy disappeared into a dark portal. A light flashed above the group, revealing five blue cards. They came down, with one caught by each member of the group.

"Oh goody, more cards." Said Heather, looking at her card. On it was a photo of Nowhere.

"What do they do?" asked Goofy, looking at his card. It had a photo of Amazonian Plateau.

"I don't know but they're awesome," said Harold, looking at his Olympus Coliseum card. "Hey Donald, I'll trade you my Olympus Coliseum for your Atlantica."

Heather slapped him on the back of his head while Donald backed away from Harold.

"Gosh!"

"Hmmm, they look like the card you used when you made Traverse Town." Said Jiminy, holding up his one card (albeit struggling due to his size). It had a photo of Far, Far, Away. Heather nodded and began collecting cards from everyone, putting them in her back pocket.

"Then I guess we're gonna need them to keep going." Said Heather.

"That's right." Said a voice. They looked ahead to see Jonesy leaning on the far wall, in better shape.

"Jonesy!" said Donald.

"Yeah, that's a sweet name," he placed smug grin at his face, "Can you believe they wanted to rename me Nojesyx? What a stupid name!"

"Oh, what?" began Heather while Jonesy walked towards them, "Back for more?"

"Did you honestly think I would give up so easily after you rejected me?" said Jonesy, "When it comes to the ladies, Jonesy Garcia never quits! When it comes to employment…that's another story."

"Ugh, creep." Said Heather, "Here I was thinking the pain would help you learn."

"Please, you think that's the first time I've been hit down there by girls?" asked Jonesy.

"Not at all." Said Heather, deadpan. "Next time you wanna test me try not to make it obvious and give me a real challenge."

"On the bright side you passed!" said Jonesy, "Congratulations, Heather. You're officially ready to take on the rest of Castle Oblivion."

"Whoop-da-freaking-do." Said Heather.

"Wow they weren't kidding you are pretty sarcastic." Said Jonesy, "Just follow your memories through the castle. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. You will find someone very special."

"You mean King Mickey and Leshawna?" asked Goofy.

Jonesy laughed a little bit, "You'll just have to give some more thought into who is more important to you."

"Most important to me?" asked Heather, "My mother, is she here? Did you kidnap her?"

"No, someone else." Said Jonesy, "Our most precious memories lie deep within our hearts, that they're out of reach. Though, I'm sure that you can find yours. "

"Why me and not Harold, Donald, or Goofy?" asked Heather.

"You've lost sight of the light within the darkness, and it appears as though you've forgotten that you forgot." Said Jonesy.

"The light within darkness?" asked Heather.

"Need a hint?" asked Jonesy.

"As if. I can figure it out for myself." Said Heather.

"Don't worry Heather," said Donald, "we'll protect you along the way."

"Alright then," said Jonesy, smiling in a smug fashion, "Just a warning: When your sleeping memories awake, you may no longer be who you are now."

"Quite deep for a pervert like yourself." Said Heather.

"Yup, I'm more than a pretty face. I can be very poetic." Said Jonesy.

"Get bent."

"Someone's got some fire in her. As you rediscover your memories, feel free to share them with me," Jonesy winked.

Heather had stepped forward with her Keyblade in hand, about to attack, but Jonesy shrieked and put his hands over his…area…and disappeared into a black portal.

"Alright, let's get going." Said Heather, walking towards the staircase at the end.

"Gawrsh, fellas, that's two people in black coats." Said Goofy, "Think there are others like Jonesy and that other guy?"

"If there are they had better not be a nerd or a creep." Said Heather, not impressed with the bad guys she was facing. "Ugh that guy was so disgusting."

"Don't worry Heather, if we run into Jonesy again, you can leave him to us." Said Donald. "In the battle against him he didn't look so tough."

"Except that she can't leave it to us because we're just cards." Said Harold.

"Oh yeah." Said Donald.

"Whatever, let's just get to the next floor of this castle. No use staying here." Said Heather.

Her and her teammates had walked up the grand staircase. It was white, like the other things in the hall. A color motif could be clearly seen. At the top they arrived in another room. It was the exact same hall as before, except instead of a staircase there was another pair of big yellow doors. As the group walked towards them, Jiminy stood up on Heather's shoulder.

"Hmmm…" muttered Jiminy.

"What is it, cricket?" asked Heather.

"I'm a little worried about what Jonesy said back there." said Jiminy, "What could he have meant by 'you may no longer be who you are'?"

"Probably just some mind games." Said Heather, "There's no one else I could be."

Jiminy laughed, "Of course. Still, can't be too careful."

"What if he means that Heather will not be how she is now, and will turn back into how she was back in the TDI days?" asked Harold, getting stares from everyone.

"I didn't think of it like that…" said Heather, with a look of worry. "That's the last thing that I'd want, but there's always the possibility...In case that does happen to me, I sincerely apologize for anything I may do. I hope it doesn't happen because looking back I can't believe some of the stuff I did. Why'd you have to go and bring that possibility up Harold!"

"Gosh, just trying to analyze the situation!" he replied.

"Don't worry Heather. We won't let ya become like that again!" said Goofy, as Donald said, "Yeah!"

Heather smiled, "Thanks guys. But I won't rule out complete possibility of that happening. Seems like just about anything could happen in this crazy castle."

"Don't worry Heather. Whatever happens, we'll handle it, together." Said Harold.

"Of course we will, like we explored that other creepy castle together." Said Goofy. "The one with all the weird contraptions."

"When did that happen?" asked Heather.

Everyone stood around, trying to remember, but couldn't.

"I can't remember." Said Donald. "What was it called?"

"Gawrsh," said Goofy, "It was uh…Holla…Holly…no…Holler…Sorry I can't remember."

"Goofy, stop playing around!" said Donald.

"Maybe you were just imagining it." Said Heather.

"I don't think so." Said Goofy.

"I think I'd remember going through a castle as creepy as this." Said Heather. Everyone nodded to this statement. "Now come on, let's go to the next level."

They all walked up to the doors. Heather took out a random card from her back pocket. It was Nowhere.

"Guess I'll have a reunion with that wig lady." Said Heather. "She was in this world…right? Bah who cares." She held up the card and it flashed as the door opened up, filling the room with light. Heather shielded her eyes and walked through.

"If I'm not blind by the end of this castle it'll be a miracle." Said Heather, walking through.


	6. Literally Going to Nowhere, pt 1

**Floor 2 – Nowhere**

The light cleared, and Heather and the group opened their eyes. They were alone in the middle of Nowhere. To be more specific, they were in the middle of the town of Nowhere. There were no cars on the street, or people walking on the sidewalks. The town was quieter than usual. Heather and her friends were all alone.

"Even creepier than before." Said Heather.

"You'd imagine there'd be even a few cars on the street." Said Harold.

"Hey guys, I hear something!" said Goofy. He pointed to a lone truck driving through the streets of Nowhere. Driving it was an old man with a brown had and a big chin. In the passenger seat was an old lady with a green dress, yellow apron, glasses, white hair, and black rubber boots. They were bickering as they were driving.

"Is that…Muriel and Eustace?" asked Heather, seeing the figures in the car. The car parked outside of the First Court of Justice of Nowhere.

"I believe so!" said Donald.

"Come on Eustace, we're late!" said Muriel, angry, getting out of the car.

"It's just a stupid dog!" said Eustace, as the two walked into the courthouse.

"They're going into the courthouse." Said Harold.

"Well, there's no other place to go." Said Heather. Heather moved a foot and a light above her appeared. It was a golden card with a picture of a key, like last time. It came down to Heather.

"Another golden card." Said Goofy.

"Now we're getting somewhere." said Heather. She looked closely on the card and noticed that there was text on it. _Key to Beginnings._

"So it has a name." said Heather.

"That means the others probably have names." Said Harold.

"Which means that…" began Heather, getting the Guard Amor card out of her deck., and read the description, "_Slightly extends the range of attack cards."_

"That explains a lot." Said Heather.

"Um...Heather?" asked Harold, pointing to a girl running through the streets.

"Wait Muriel! You guys forgot me!" she yelled. The girl had a green shirt and pink pants.

"Is that Beth?" asked Heather. She was right, running was the same girl who Heather had used in TDI and made up with in her last journey. "Guess the worlds really are replicated from my memories."

Beth ran into the courthouse, too focused on getting there to notice anyone else was in town.

"Something important must be going on in there." said Donald.

"Then we had better get going." said Heather.

They walked over to the courthouse, but once she opened the doors a light flashed. She was no longer in town, she was in a distorted room similar to the ones in Traverse Town. Once again, her allies disappeared. This time, she was in the middle of the dust fields. It was flat with doors on all sides. One behind her, one in front of her, one to her left, and one to her right.

"Oh great now how do I choose where to go?" she remarked. However this time, there was something she noticed about the doors. The ones on the right and the left had crowns on top of them, while the one up ahead did not. She ran to the door on the left, avoiding Heartless, to find that the door requires the _Key to Beginnings_. However it also required a room card, which Heather did not possess.

She saw a Shadow and walked up to it, hitting it with her Keyblade. In the blink of an eye she was on a battlefield stationed on a parking lot. In front of her were two Shadows and two Red Nocturnes. She ran up to them and began swinging her Keyblade, breaking their formation. She focused on one Shadow, and swung her Keyblade three times, defeating it. As soon as the Heartless disintegrated, Heather was shot in the back by a fireball. She turned around and was hit in the face by a fireball. Angered she shot two Blizzards at the Red Nocturnes, both hitting with both Red Nocturnes suffering major damage. She jumped up and defeated them both with a swing of her Keyblade. Once she got back to the ground she was scratched by a Shadow. She turned around and her wig turned red as she cast Fire on it, sending it flying back. She ran up to it and stabbed it with her Keyblade, defeating it. Two cards came to her, a Cure card and a blue card with a photo of a Treasure Chest on it.

She was back in the distorted room and ran to the door that required the_ Key to Beginnings_. The held up the _Key to Beginnings_ and Green card with both disappearing as the door opened. She walked through, blinded by the immense light inside. Once inside, she was in a hallway of the courthouse. Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind her. They heard noise from a door up ahead, and went to investigate. It was the courtroom, with court in session. Despite that there were few figures. There was the judge, Courage in the defendant's chair, and Katz opposite of him in the plaintiff's chair. Muriel was sitting behind Courage, worried. Eustace was sitting next to her, who didn't' seem that bothered by Courage being on trial. He was actually smiling, looking like a kid in a candy store.

A short Policeman with a large red mustache walked out and said, "Court is now in session! Today we have the case of Katz vs. Courage!"

The judge walked up and sat down, as did everyone else. For the court, the judge was the Mayor. Heather and her group sat in the second room, despite there being many open seats in the first row.

"A trial?" asked Donald.

"I'm getting a sense of déjà vu." Said Harold.

"Well what happened the last time we were here?" said Donald, "I can't remember too well."

"What's happening now, Courage on trial." Said Heather, "That dog needs to stay out of trouble."

"You're one to talk about staying out of trouble." said a voice, with a tone of animosity saying that. The group looked back and saw Beth, entering the courtroom. She has a worried look on her face, and sat down next to Harold.

"Oh, hello there Beth." said Heather. Donald and Goofy greeted her as well.

"Good to see you all again, but not in this bad situation. Poor Courage!" said Beth, saddened.

"Uh, Heather, are you sure it was Courage who was on trial?" asked Goofy.

"Of course! Maybe…" said Heather, not being able to remember too well.

"Well that jury looks familiar." Said Harold. Everyone looked and saw that the jury consisted of twelve villains, like last time: Dr. LeQuack, Benton Tarantella, Errol von Volkheim, Jeeves Weevil, the Queen of the Black Puddle, the Chicken from Outer Space, Dr. Gerbil, the Great Fusilli, the Quilt Sisters, the Cruel Vet, and the Cajun Fox.

"Why is the Jury always full of people who hate Courage?" asked Beth, saddened.

"Courage," Said the policeman, walking to the defendant's chair. "Do you understand the charges against you?"

Courage nodded no, but the policeman had a hard time understanding.

"Uh…is that a yes?" he asked.

"That's a no!" yelled Beth, doing everything possible to help her friend.

"Quiet down!" said the Mayor, gesturing towards Beth.

"Of course he understands! He's guilty!" yelled Katz, who was in the plaintiff's seat. "He aided the Heartless and stole my memories!" he said, earning a gasp from everyone in the court (which was not many people).

"Do they actually believe Courage stole his memories?" asked Heather, dumbstruck at the lack of logic. "Why would they do this anyways, what does Katz have to gain?"

"Katz hates Courage and blames everything on him!" said Beth. Under her breath, she muttered low enough so no one could hear, "You should know about hating people..."

"Objection!" yelled Muriel in response to the Katz's assertion. She was angry yet worried for her beloved dog. "My Courage would never do that!"

"Of course he would!" yelled Katz.

"Does the defendant have a lawyer present?" asked the Mayor.

"Dr. Vindaloo was out sick." Said Muriel, hugging her dog in worry. "We couldn't afford any other lawyer in Nowhere as the only other lawyer was Katz."

"I'm a lawyer?" asked Katz. "See! I did lose my memories!"

"Well this isn't gonna end well." Said Heather.

"Heather!" said Beth, a plan formulating in her head, "You're smart and deceitful, everything someone needs to be a lawyer! Can you please be Courage's lawyer? Please, please, please?"

"I'm flattered but..." said Heather, as she looked at Beth's puppy dog eyes and looked at Courage in the front row. Courage was her friend, and she didn't want to see him arrested for something that obviously not his fault.

"Ugh..." Heather said, "Can't believe I'm gonna do this."

"I have no choice!" Began the Mayor, "With no lawyer, and no evidence supporting you, you don't have a case. Courage the Cowardly Dog, the court finds you guil-"

"I object!" said Heather, standing up. She wasn't yelling, but said it loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone looked at her oddly, even Muriel and Courage.

"Courage, do you know who that is?" asked Muriel, earning a shrug from Courage. "Oh well she's friends with Beth! That means she must be good!"

"Heather, what are you doing?" asked Goofy.

"Saving Courage from this madness." Said Heather, as she began walking to the front of the courtroom.

"Wow, wouldn't expect Heather to do that." Said Donald. "Guess she really has changed."

"That's something I'd expect from Harold, a-hyuck!" said Goofy.

"I'd never be so loud in a court!" said Harold. "I learned to respect the courtroom in a camp I went. I forgot who ran it. Lawyer Sterling? Lawyer Stanley? Lawyer Stephen? Oh whatever."

"Who might you be, miss?" asked the Mayor to Heather, who was approaching the front.

"I'm the dog's lawyer." Said Heather.

"Objection!" yelled Katz. "She can't be Courage's lawyer, she hasn't signed the paperwork!"

"Yes I did." Said Heather, deadpan.

"No you didn't!" said Katz, countering Heather.

"How do you know? You lost your memory." Said Heather. At this statement, everyone in the jury began talking amongst themselves while nodding.

Katz stood speechless as the Mayor said, "The girl has a point. Please continue."

"Wow, she's good." said Donald, while Goofy and Harold nodded.

"That girl can lie herself out of anything." said Harold, smiling.

"How did he do it?" asked Heather, to Katz. Katz looked oddly at Heather, not understanding what she meant.

"Do what?" asked Katz.

"Steal your memory." Replied Heather. "How did Courage steal your memory?"

"How am I supposed to remember?" asked Katz.

"What's the evidence that Courage stole your memory?" asked Heather. Katz began sweating, obviously nervous.

"I don't know, I forgot." Said Katz. "Because he stole my memory!"

Heather scoffed and crossed her arms, "Your honor, could I and my four associates quickly talk to the defendant outside?"

"Well…sure I don't see why not." Said the Mayor. Heather walked back towards the door, while Harold, Donald, and Goofy followed. Courage ran up to Beth and held her hand as they walked to the door. They stopped in the hallway, and closed the door behind them before conversing.

"What are we gonna do Heather?" asked Goofy, as Courage hugged Heather out of gratitude.

"We wing it." Said Heather, gesturing towards the door. "Let's go see what we can do."

"But the punishment can get worse if Courage is caught ditching court!" said Harold. "He could get into even more trouble!"

Hearing this, Courage had a frightened look on his face and whimpered.

"Don't do anything that could make it worse, Heather!" said Beth.

"Hey at least I helped!" said Heather. "If we stay here Courage is screwed. I don't see any of you coming up with ideas." she looked around and everyone looked down, not knowing what to do. "We need to do something. If all else fails then I'll just lie and say I stole Katz's memory."

Upon hearing this, Courage hugged Heather once more. She didn't seem to mind.

"You'd do that Heather?" asked Harold, shocked at what Heather would do for Courage.

"I wouldn't do it for Courage so much as to just prove a point." said Heather. "The flaws of the legal system. If it weren't for those then my family would still have our yacht. How were we supposed to know that it was already owned?"

"Where did you get it?" asked Harold.

"It was docked with a key and a lock and everything." said Heather. Everyone looked at her oddly but no one responded to her.

"So you'd seriously take the blame for Courage?" asked Beth.

"Sure." Said Heather, "What are they gonna do, arrest me? I have a Keyblade that can unlock any door. But I at least wanna prove Courage is innocent first. Now…wasn't there that one Chihuahua gypsy girl who helped us last time? She can tell us what to do. What was her name?"

"Shirley!" said Beth, in realization.

Courage knew who they were talking about and walked them out of the courthouse. The lights flashed as the door opened. Heather and her allies shielded her eyes walking outside. When the light cleared, Heather was back in the distorted dust field room, alone, surrounded by Heartless. A light flashed above her and revealed another gold card with a heart on it. It came down to Heather. Like the last one, this one had text on it, reading _Key of Guidance._ Heather eyed a door across from her with a crown on top of it. She walked to it, avoiding Heartless, and saw that it required a gold card, but not the one she had. The room required the gold card with the Heartless insignia on it, not the _Key of Guidance_ she had.

"Guess I'll come here later." Said Heather. She walked over to the third door, the one without a crown on it. As she walked there she felt something on her head. She looked up to see a Red Nocturne. Heather cursed as she was transported to the battlefield, in front of two Shadows, two Red Nocturnes, and a Large Body. The Shadows rushed to her as the Red Nocturnes shot fireballs at her. She guard against the fireballs but left herself wide opened to having her leg scratched by two Shadow. Heather swung her Keyblade downwards, moving them out of the way. She looked up and cast Blizzard twice on one of the Red Nocturnes, killing it. The Large Body ran up to her and swatted his hands at her, hitting her and sending her back a few feet. She cast Fire but the Large Body blocked with his chest. A Harold card appeared above Heather, which she got and summoned.

"Harold, take care of the big guy." Said Heather.

"Your wish is my command." Said Harold, shooting his num-yos at the Large Body's feet, tying them up, tripping him. Harold went up to him and began attacking its back with his num-yos.

Meanwhile, Heather combined her top three cards (total-12), allowing her to perform the Sliding Dash, hitting both Shadows, defeating them. Harold and his num-yos disappeared but the Large Body remained. The Red Nocturne fired a fireball at Heather, who was running towards it. She narrowly avoided the fireball and jumped on the Large Body which was having trouble getting off the ground. Using it as a launching pad, she jumped up to the height of the Red Nocturne, and slashed it down with her Keyblade, the impact strong enough to vanquish it. Heather came back down and kept swinging her Keyblade at the Large Body until it was defeated. Out came a red card with a photo of a Large Body on it. A Light flashed and Heather was back in the distorted dust plain room. She went up to the door and flashed the card. Like usual, it disappeared and the door opened. She walked through and saw that she was now in another distorted room, this one looking like Growth industries. She was in the lobby, with two visible doors. One up ahead and one to her left. Neither had crowns on them. Filling the room were three Large Bodies, roaming about.

"Ugh, where am I supposed to go from here?" asked Heather, impatient. "Guess I'd better just pick a room and hope it's not wrong."

She walked towards the door on the left, as it was closer to her. When she was almost there she realized that she had no room cards, something she needed to start remembering. She reluctantly went up to a Large Body and whacked it with her Keyblade in the back. There was a flash of light, and Heather stood in a white room in Growth Industries. In front of her were two Large Bodies.

"Why does this room look familiar?" asked Heather. She couldn't remember it, but it was the same room where she was given her Silver wig. Disregarding her memory problems, she ran up to the Large Body and ran behind it, casting Fire. The Large Body turned 180 degrees with its hands out, hitting Heather. She flew back into the other Large Body, which did the same thing. The Large Bodies were playing Volleyball with Heather as the volley. Each time she was hit she was in more and more pain. She held out her Keyblade and hit one of the large Bodies in the stomach, expecting to fly back. She was right, and she flew back, but flew over the other Large Body, landing behind it. Heather casted Blizzard on the Large Body then began hitting its back with all of her force. The Large body turned around and angrily began running around the room. Heather guarded with her Keyblade.

The stationary large Body jumped up and landed near Heather, shocking her and making her trip up and let her guard down. The other Large Body ran right over Heather, crushing her under its weight. Heather stood up and cast Cure, while eyeing a Goofy card. She ran up and summoned it, not wanting to be with the two Large Bodies anymore. Heather commanded Goofy to deal with one Large Body while she dealt with the other, to which he complied. Goofy dealt with the running Large Body, running up to it while running with his Shield. He rammed the Large Body, overpowering it and sending it back towards a wall. Goofy rammed it again with his Shield, defeating it. Goofy vanished shortly after. Meanwhile the live large Body jumped up again but this time Heather was prepared, and ran to the other side of the room. She ran up to the Large Body and ran around it, combining her top three cards (total-12) and performing the Sliding Dash, hitting it's back directly, defeating it. Out of the Large Body came a red card with a picture of a Shadow. Above the Shadow was a symbol in a ballon, written '**zzz', **illustrating that the Shadow was sleeping.

Heather was back in the Growth Industries lobby, and went back to the door. She walked up to the one she was heading for originally, and held up the card. It disappeared, and the door opened. She walked through and was in a restaurant. It was wide and there were Shadows sleeping on the ground everywhere. Heather understood the meaning of the **zzz** on the card. She saw a door up ahead with a crown on it. She tiptoed, not wanting to awaken the Shadows. She arrived at the door and saw that it required the _Key of Guidance_ and another card.

"Jackpot." Said Heather, walking over to a sleeping Shadow in order to acquire the other necessary card. She whacked it with her Keyblade, and soon she was in a battlefield in front of a Warehouse. She was facing off against two Shadows and two Red Nocturnes. They were asleep. She casted Blizzard on both of the Red Nocturnes, hitting a critical hit and waking them up. They both shot fireballs at Heather, who blocked them with her Keyblade. She ran up to the Shadows and hit them both with her Keyblade, waking each one of them up. She jumped up to hit a Red Nocturne, sending it down towards the ground, the impact defeating it. She cast Fire on a Shadow and hit the other Shadow with her Keyblade. She looked up and was hit in the face by a fireball. When it cleared, smoke was coming off her face. She ran up and whacked the Red Nocturne, sending it up high. She ran up to the Shadow and killed it with her Keyblade. She turned towards the other Shadow, but the Red Nocturne was sent flying back down, and crashed into the Shadow, killing it. A Red card came out of it. Where the picture should have been, it was pitch black.

She was back in the restaurant, surrounded by sleeping Shadows. She walked up to the door with the crown on it and held up the red card and the _Key of Guidance._ Both disappeared in her hand as the door opened, the light inside filling the restaurant. The sleeping Shadows woke up and saw the light as Heather entered it, not even bothering to shield her eyes as she was so used to it.

Once through, she was in a warehouse with boxes everywhere. She heard something behind her and saw Courage and Beth entering, running up to her. Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind Heather, scaring Courage, who hid behind Heather.

"Why are we here?" asked Heather, directed at Courage.

"To talk to Shirley, remember?" replied Goofy.

"Well where is she?" asked Heather, not happy with being in a big empty warehouse.

Courage began jumping up and down, pointing to a stack of boxes. Out of it came a yellow Chihuahua with a saxophone. It was Shirley, the gypsy.

"Who's she?" asked Harold.

"Don't you remember Harold?" asked Goofy, "That's Shirley! She helped us last time."

"That's Shirley? I don't remember that well." Said Donald.

"So I see you are all here looking for help." Said Shirley, playing her sax, "Well just because you got Courage out of that courthouse doesn't mean he's safe."

Courage looked sad as Heather crossed her arms and replied, "Yeah, we know."

"Katz won't stop until Courage is guilty." Said Shirley.

"How do we know he isn't faking?" asked Beth. "Katz hates Courage enough to do that!"

"Katz is many things but he's not a liar." Said Shirley, "I believe he truly lost his memory."

"But how?" asked Goofy.

"Who knows? Maybe he forgot that he remembers, rather than remembers that he forgot." Said Shirley, playing her sax. "It doesn't matter, no matter what happens Courage is going to be treated as guilty."

"What if we just stay away from the court until Katz gets his memory back?" suggested Heather. "I mean maybe it's just amnesia and soon he'll remember. And if he doesn't, what's the worse that Katz can do? How far would he go for revenge? Hire someone to kill us?"

At that moment, the entire Warehouse shook. A tower of boxes next to Shirley fell down as a giant robot walked through it, destroying it. The robot was twice the size of Heather, with cannons on its shoulders and lasers on its arms. It was made of steel, and had no head, instead having a control booth inside of the chest. It had a glass shield over it, but the inside could be easily seen. It looked like the kind of room in a control tower at an airport. Piloting the robot was was Bushwick, the Cockroach. Shirley, Beth, and Courage ran away while Harold, Donald, and Goofy disappeared, leaving Heather to face it.

"Did someone call an assassin?" he said.

"Don't tell me, Katz hired you." Said Heather.

"Can't say." Said Bushwick.

"So yes." Said Heather.

"I already said I can't say!" said Bushwick.

Heather took this as a yes, as no one else would go to the trouble of hiring an assassin. She cast the Guard Armor card and ran up to the Robot and began attacking the Robot, only to be kicked away by the robot's leg. It ran over to Heather and punched her, knocking her towards a tower of boxes. She got out of the box pile she caused and cast Fire at the robot, who merely swatted the fireball away. The robot jumped up and was about to land on Heather, but she ran out of the way. She jumped onto the robot and broke the glass in front of the control booth. She entered it, and ran up to Bushwick, hitting him with her Keyblade. He was sent flying back towards the wall of the control booth. Heather ran up to him but he ran back to the control booth and pressed a button. A small crane inside the robot picked up Heather and threw her outside.

The robot launched missiles against Heather from the left shoulder, who hit them with her Keyblade, each one exploding upon impact. Then robot then began shooting Lasers, which Heather could not redirect. She jumped up and down, almost dancing to avoid them. Bushwick even commanded the robot to shoot lasers at her feet.

"Dance!" he said, laughing like a madman.

"You will not humiliate me like that!" yelled Heather, irritated.

She shot Blizzard at one of the laser holes, blocking any lasers from exiting. Bushwick didn't notice and launched a rocket, but the entire left arm exploded due to the ice block. The arm fell to the ground, as the robot was left with only one arm.

A green card appeared near the remains of the arm. It was Harold.

"If anyone knows how to destroy a robot, it's Harold." Said Heather.

Heather ran up to it, but the Robot saw and punched Heather, sending her back. She looked and saw that the card had disappeared.

"Dammit." She muttered. She decided to summon Woody, to help create cracks in the robot. The Woodpecker arrived and began pecking all over the robot, but it was too hard to break through. Woody noticed wires sticking out of the hole where the arm was and began pulling on them with his beak.

"Hey! What are you doing! Stop that!" said the robot, angrily.

He swatted Woody, who was sent flying back towards a pile of boxes where Heather previously fell. He regained composure and was irritated at being hurt. No one had ever hurt him before in battle. He flew rapidly towards the robot, beak ready to attack, however he disappeared an inch away from the robot. With Woody gone, Bushwick turned his attention towards Heather, who was nowhere to be seen. Unbeknownst to him, Heather was on his back, and had used the time to re-summon her cards. She stabbed its back with her Keyblade, with the Keyblade appearing on the inside of the control booth, pushing Bushwick out. Without someone to control it, the robot fell, but not before Heather could jump out of the way. She went up and whacked Bushwick, who ran away fast.

"I'm telling Katz!" he yelled, running out of the warehouse. Where he stood, a light flashed and a card appeared. It had a photo of Bushwick. Heather walked up to it and picked it up. She read the text, which read "_Increases the strength of attack cards._" She added it to her deck, and then heard people coming.

"Well that was a nuisance." Said Heather, as Beth, Courage, and Shirley came back. Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared.

"And here I thought you couldn't handle fighting a robot without me." Harold said, smug.

"You should do something because this proved that doing nothing will work." Said Shirley, "Or will it?"

"Huh?" asked everyone.

"If you can't remember something, it's like it never happened at all." Said Shirley, "Similar to how if something never happened, you can't remember it. Try too hard to remember and your memory will lie to you. It will tell you what you want to hear, whether or not it is true."

"How is that supposed to help us?" asked Heather. "Don't you know anything else?"

Shirley looked down and sighed, "Unfortunately not."

Heather muttered low enough for no one to hear, "Ugh...useless." Beth however heard, and frowned at Heather's attitude, crossing her arms.

Courage looked down, but then got an idea. He began jumping around and pointing at stuff.

"What is he saying?" asked Donald.

"He's talking about a computer at the house that can tell him us the answer!" Said Beth. "It's always helping Courage!"

"Then there's no time to waste." Said Heather, "We have to get back to that house before Katz and the Mayor do."

A light appeared above Heather and down came a golden card with a Heartless insignia on it. The text read, _Key to Truth_. Heather grabbed it, and sternly said "Let's go."

"Good luck." Said Shirley as they walked out. Once Harold and Goofy opened the doors of the warehouse, light came out of the door. Heather walked through and was back in the restaurant, with the Shadows once again asleep.

* * *

**A.N.: **Please review, your comments are well appreciated. Update 07/08/12 for fixing format.


	7. Literally Going to Nowhere, pt 2

Heather ran through the restaurant with the sleeping Shadows, not even caring about waking them up. All that was on her mind was getting to that computer and proving the innocence of Courage. She didn't care if it was an illusion, and she didn't care how Katz and the Mayor could travel throughout the world. All that she cared about was getting there first. Luckily the door that required the _Key to Truth _was back in the dust plain room, so she knew how to get there. Also fortunate was that she found out that once you open a door, it stays open and you don't need another room card to re-open it.

She ran into the next room, the Large Body-filled lobby of Growth industries. Sidestepping and avoiding the Large Bodies, she ran into back into the dust plain room. She saw the door with the crown on it, and ran to it. She stopped after realizing that she needed a room card, and looked around. She saw a Red Nocturne flying overhead and threw her Keyblade at it. In front of her stood two Shadows and two Red Nocturnes. Heather did not even want to waste a second. She ran up to the Red Nocturnes casting Blizzard at them, while combining her top three cards to perform the Sliding Dash, (total-14). She hit both of the Shadows, sending them flying in opposite directions. Heather turned around and saw a fireball coming at her face. She swung her Keyblade, defending her from the fireball. Unfortunately the rest of her body was defenseless against a second fireball, sent by the other Red Nocturne. The other fireball hit Heather in the wait, hurting her a little bit. She cast Cure and hit the Red Nocturne. She hit it twice more and it was defeated. She turned around and saw a Shadow lunging at her. She sidestepped and stabbed the Shadow from behind, defeating it. She saw a Donald card. She ran up to it, avoiding a fireball from a Red Nocturne.

"Donald, take care of the red one." Said Heather, running off towards the other Shadow. Donald cast Blizzard twice at the Red Nocturne, defeating it. He disappeared with his work completed. Meanwhile Heather had jumped up, and with a downward slash, killed the Shadow. A card came out, a blue one and on it was…a picture of Space Ghost?

"Ugh, not that freak." Said Heather, examining the card as she was transported back to the dust plain room. "Good thing I don't have to see what kind of room this is." She walked up to the door with the crown and held up the Space Ghost card and the _Key to Truth_. Both disappeared as the door opened, filling the dust plain with light. Heather walked through, and was still on a dust plain, but in front of her stood Muriel and Eustace's house. Next door was a barn and next to that was a windmill. Courage and Beth ran up to Heather as Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind her.

"All right, where's this computer?" asked Heather.

"Inside the house!' said Beth, hurrying inside. Courage grabbed her hand and led her inside of the house as well. However they heard a loud noise, stopping them in their tracks. They turned around and saw that a police car arrived on the scene. Out stepped the Cop, who was driving, the Mayor, and Muriel, Eustace, and Katz who were in the back seat.

"Courage!" yelled a worried Muriel.

"Thought you'd seen the last of me, did you?" asked Katz. "You can't escape the law! Arrest them all for memory theft, trying to escape court, and posing as a lawyer!"

Courage let out a high-pitched shriek and hid behind Beth.

"Courage!" yelled the Major, as Heather stuck out her hand to summon the Keyblade. "You are in big trouble, you are not allowed to leave court!"

"Hah! Stupid dog!" yelled Eustace, happy at Courage's misfortune.

"No!" yelled Beth, "You can't take him!"

Harold, Donald, and Goofy glared at Heather.

"Told you Heather." Said Harold, crossing his arms.

"Don't worry, I'll take the blame for it." Said Heather. She turned towards the mayor, "Don't arrest Courage, I did it!"

"Did what?" asked the Major.

"I stole Katz's memory." said Heather.

"You stole my memory?" asked Katz. "Wait, where am I?"

"Yes, me, not Courage." Said Heather. The policeman and the Mayor turned to each other with wide eyes.

"Who's Courage?" asked Katz. Everyone stared at him.

"Um…are you alright?" asked Goofy.

"Looks like his memory was swiped clean." Said Heather. "Whatever memory was left no longer exists. I guess he also doesn't remember he sent an assassin to kill me. That's strangely convenient."

"Memories can be random sometimes," Harold whispered.

"And look! Courage wasn't even near him!" said Beth, not even touching up on Heather taking the blame for it.

"That's true!" said the policeman. "You're both right here and neither of you touched him! If you didn't steal Katz's memory, then who did?"

The entire ground vibrated as behind the house, a giant Heartless rose up. It was thin, with a head looking like a tower with many faces. It was the Trickster Heartless.

"Just a guess, but I think that's what stole his memory." Said Heather. "But the question is how?"

"Ahh!" yelled the citizens of Nowhere. Muriel, Eustace, the Mayor, and the Policeman got in the car and drove away fast. Heather ran up to the Heartless and got in a battle stance as her friends stood behind her with their weapons out.

"Never mind," she then turned to them and commanded, "Beth, Courage, go hide." Both nodded and ran away. "Donald, if I summon you during battle, cast Blizzard." She said, remembering its weakness. "Harold, you use your num-yos to make it trip. Goofy, protect me or cause a distraction."

All three agreed as they disappeared. The Heartless walked up to Heather as Katz roamed around, confused, confused about everything.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the Trickster. The Heartless moved its leg back, and kicked Katz as hard as possible, sending him flying up high to the sky.

"I'm blasting off again!" he said.

"What is with these pop culture references lately?" Said Heather, to herself. She looked at the towering Heartless in front of her. In his hands were two batons. He dipped them into the house's chimney and took them out. They were now on fire.

Heather decided to get a good shot of its head, so she ran towards the House. The Trickster swiped a baton at Heather but she fell to the ground fast, avoiding it entirely. She continued and climbed onto the house, getting to the roof. She turned around to face the Trickster but was hit by a fire baton, which the Trickster swiped at her. She flew to the other side of the roof, but was hit by a baton going the other direction, sending her towards the other side of the roof. She flew all the way to the chimney, where she was hurt by the hard surface. Her wig turned green as she cast Cure and then Blue as she cast Blizzard twice, both times connecting with the towering Heartless. Angry, the Heartless bent down and put the baton in front of its face, blowing fire at Heather. Heather was caught up in the wind of fire and was sent flying back to the ground, burned and smoking. The impact with the ground was painful, and once Heather stood back up, she used a Potion card. The Trickster walked over to Heather teasing her, juggling its batons. It slammed both of its batons on the ground, sending a wave of fire and dust flying all directions. Heather was able to shield herself with her Keyblade, and held her arm over her eyes. The dust cleared and she ran over to the Trickster and began hitting it with her Keyblade, jumping up to hit its pelvis, a part where it was vulnerable. She saw a Goofy card, and ran up to get it.

"Goofy, I need you to make sure it's facing away from the house." Said Heather.

"You got it." said Goofy, sternly. He threw his Shield at the heartless, and made sure it was looking at him. Meanwhile, Heather was walking over to the house and climbed it in no time due to the lack of Trickster attacking her. She made it to the roof and saw Goofy disappearing. The Trickster moved slightly but Heather was prepared. She cast the Bushwick card (making her attacks stronger) and she combined her top three cards (total-13). Without the slightest sense of danger, she jumped up off the roof, using the Sliding Dash in midair to attack the Trickster's Head. Her Keyblade damaged his head greatly, and once she was on the other side of him, she turned around in midair and hit it with her Keyblade a couple times, using momentum to keep her up. She slashed her Keyblade once more and it toppled the towering Heartless over to the ground, damaging it more. She landed on the ground gracefully and proceeded to attack the Trickster until her deck ran out of cards. The Trickster got back up, weakened, while Heather saw a Donald card. She began running to it, which the Trickster could notice. He slammed his batons down, causing a shockwave. Heather was sent to the ground, but could still see the Donald card. She got up quickly, not wanting to lose an opportunity to summon Donald. She grabbed hold of it as it began flashing (signifying it was at the brink of disappearing). She smiled as she gained the upper hand in the battle

"Blizzard, right Heather?" asked a recently summoned Donald.

"Yup. I need to reload my deck." Said Heather.

"Is it just me or are all of the villains using fire lately?" asked Donald. "First Jonesy and now this…"

"Donald!" yelled Heather as the creature towered over them, "This is NOT the time for small talk! Go attack it!"

"Just wondering…" muttered Donald, walking over to the Heartless. He casted Blizzard once at it on the back of its head. It turned around to face Donald and swiped its Batons down, causing a shockwave. Donald was knocked off his feet and fell to the ground. The creature towered directly over him, and was looking down at him. Donald took this as the perfect opportunity and cast Blizzard, hitting the creature directly in the face. The Trickster put its hands on its face in agony and then angrily swiped its batons directly at Donald. Donald put his staff in front of him to protect himself. The batons hit the ground, causing a cloud of dust. When it cleared, the creature looked down to see that Donald wasn't there. He disappeared right before the batons touched the ground.

"Hey wannabe clown!" yelled Heather, wanting the Trickster's attention.

The Trickster stood up and turned around. On top of the house was Heather, healed thanks to Cure and all of her cards back. The creature ran over to Heather, ready to swipe Heather off of the house with its batons, but when it was a foot away from the house…

"Freeze!" yelled Heather, shooting Blizzard twice, both Trickster directly in the face point blank. It became unbalanced, moving forward and backwards. Heather jumped up and hit it with all her force, making it topple over directly into the ground, the impact defeating it. The Trickster disintegrated as a heart rose out of it. Where the Trickster stood, there was a black card with a photo of a Trickster on it. Heather picked it up and read the text, which read "_Makes enemies weaker when you block their attacks_." She shrugged and added it to her deck. Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared as the police car came back. Beth and Courage came out of it, as did Muriel, Eustace, the Mayor, and the policeman.

"Good to see you're all safe!" said Harold. "What's gonna happen to Courage?"

"He's declared innocent!" said Beth, hugging Courage out of happiness. "Since Courage wasn't there when the rest of Katz's memories were erased, they realized it wasn't his fault!"

"Well that's great!" said Goofy, happy.

"Thank you so much for your help in saving my courage." Said Muriel, hugging Heather in gratitude.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Said Heather, a little uncomfortable.

Eustace walked by, mumbling, "Stupid key girl saving the dog…"

Heather just glared at him as Muriel walked into the house. Courage walked up to her and hugged Heather out of gratitude. Even though she wasn't a huggy person, Heather bent down and surprised everyone by hugging Courage back.

"Now just promise me you'll stop getting arrested." Said Heather. Courage nodded and smiled and went back inside the house.

"Beth, you wanna come with us?" asked Harold.

"Will Heather come?" asked Beth.

"Well, duh-uh!" said Heather, putting her hands on her hips.

"Then, no! I'd rather be here!" said Beth.

"Are you seriously gonna act like that after all I did for Courage?" asked Heather, "Why did you treat me so nice all this time if you're just gonna leave because you don't wanna be around me?"

"I just needed Courage to be safe." Said Beth. "I love my friends and I'd do anything for them."

"So you used me!" said Heather, angry. "How dare you! Here I was thinking we were friends!"

"You're one to talk about using people!" the farm girl raised her voice. "And friends? I wouldn't be friends with you if you were the last person on Earth! You weren't friends to us!"

"Friends to who? You and Lindsay?" asked Heather. "I thought we had gotten past that! All three of us! Lindsay's forgiven me and I thought you did! Apparently I was wrong."

"Do you honestly think that this is about me or Lindsay?" asked Beth. "Did you seriously forget about – know what? I'm not even gonna bother. You're obviously worse than I thought. I'm getting sick just talking to you. Goodbye Heather!" said Beth, walking away with Courage back inside of the house.

"Well that was weird." Said Donald.

"I wouldn't expect that from Beth." Said Harold. "She's the sweetest and most forgiving girl I know! Well, after my sweet Leshawna that is."

"I wonder where the animosity came from." Said Goofy. "Kind of uncharacteristic of her."

"Don't care. She's just an illusion. Doesn't matter to me." Said Heather, remembering what Kitty had said in Traverse Town about the people she'd meet. Everyone looked down, remembering that.

"Still though…" began Harold, "A little weird that Beth would act like that in your memories.

"Like I said, I don't care." Said Heather. Even though Heather said this, she still felt a little hurt. She thought that Beth had forgiven her for her ways, and to hear otherwise from her in person was painful, even if she knew she wasn't real. Some part of her felt a little guilt. "Our work is done here, let's go."

"Wait!" yelled a voice. They turned to see a short woman with a large red wig running at them, "GIVE ME BACK THAT WIG!"

"Oh no, not her." Said Heather. Luckily, she knew how to disappear from the area.

She walked a step and a light flashed.

"DON'T YOU DA-" said the voice, before being cut off. Heather was now inside of the barn alone, Harold, Donald, and Goofy had disappeared, and the lady was nowhere to be seen. Heather looked around and saw that in front of her was a very tall ladder, like back in Traverse Town. It was the only way to go.

"Do I seriously have to do this again? Ugh." Said Heather, climbing the ladder. Once she got to the top, she saw the same thing as in Traverse Town. A door frame filled with nothing but light. She walked through and was in a hallway similar to the one where she met Jonesy. It white walls and white columns. A grand stairway framing the end.

"Uh…another one of these halls." Said Heather, as her friends reappeared behind her.

"They're called exit halls." Said Harold, identifying the room as the Floor 2 Exit Hall. "I've played enough dungeon games to know how to get from one to the other."

Heather put her hand up, as if she was gonna slap him, but then decided to put her hand down realizing that Harold's nerd knowledge was being really helpful. Heather began walking towards the stairs as Harold and Donald followed. Goofy stopped behind them and put his hand on his head, as if he was thinking. Donald noticed and turned around.

"What's the matter Goofy?" asked Donald. Heather and Harold turned around as well.

"It's that creepy castle that I was talking about earlier." Said Goofy. "I know I didn't imagine it." Heather, Harold, and Donald looked at each other, with odd looks on their faces suggesting that they didn't know whether or not to believe Goofy. "That was the castle where Heather protected us from getting our hearts stolen, and became a Heartless herself while also freeing Izzy's heart."

"Let me think…" said Heather. She put her hands to her head, and images flashed through her head. The first one was of her seeing Magneto's Keyblade coming right at her. The second one was her dropping her Keyblade, falling. The last one was Izzy attempting to save her, only for Heather to disappear.

"I remember some things, fragment more like it." Said Heather.

"Afterwards you disappeared and we were all worried!" said Goofy. "How could I ever forget that?"

"I remember! It's when Heather turned into a Heartless!" said Harold.

"Oh yeah…wow how could I of all people forget that?" asked Heather. "Come to think of it my memory has been fuzzy as of late. There were a lot of things in Nowhere I couldn't remember."

"Same with me." Said Donald. Harold also admitted to forgetting things.

"I also forgot some stuff, but I remember others, like the castle." Said Goofy.

"Well I remember turning into a Heartless, but I don't remember that taking place in a castle." Said Heather.

"Aww…you forgot that?" asked Donald. "I remember perfectly."

"Well that's funny because a while back you thought Goofy was playing around when he was remembering the castle." Said Heather.

"But I remember now!" said Donald.

"Then what's the castle called?" asked Harold, in just as much disbelief as Heather that Donald would suddenly remember.

"That's easy! It was…" said Donald, spending a minute trying to remember the name. "I…can't remember."

"Jiminy." Said Heather. "You said that you made a journal of our last adventure, look through it and see what you can find."

"You got it!" said Jiminy, jumping onto Heather's shoulder. He got his journal and jumped down to the ground. "Let's have a look." He opened the book, but saw something he did not expect to see, and frankly it was the last thing he'd ever want to see.

"Oh no! How could it be!" he yelled, in anguish.

"What's the matter Jiminy?" asked Harold.

"All my entries! They're gone!" replied Jiminy, holding up the book. He was right, every page in the book was blank, as if there was never anything there. "All that hard work, wasted."

"What'll we do?" asked Donald.

"How could this have happened?" asked Jiminy. "I'm so careful with the journal."

Harold and Goofy were consoling Jiminy, patting him on the back (though with fingers because of his size). Meanwhile Heather was analyzing the situation.

"Don't worry Jiminy, once we get out of this castle we'll help you rewrite it." Said Goofy.

"If I didn't see the journal fully written earlier with my own eyes, I'd just take it as Jiminy being a bad chronicler." Said Heather. "But I did see it, so it's not your fault. We're forgetting stuff out of the blue, and now the Journal's empty. What could be going on?"

Heather began walking forward towards the steps.

"Huh? Heather, where are you going?" asked Donald.

"Well we're not gonna find answers here." Said Heather, walking towards the stairs.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a white room, clicking noises can be heard once more. Looking through the same camera from earlier is a girl with a blue shirt and green shorts. It's an old type of camera that prints photos once they're taken. However it can also hold pictures within, like a digital camera. She was looking through the back, scrolling through photos, looking for a certain image.

* * *

The group had entered the Floor 3 Entrance Hall. Just like the last one, it had big doors at the end. They walked towards the doors, with Donald saying out loud, "Something's screwy. Journal pages don't just vanish."

Heather stopped in her tracks while her group continued on towards the door. "This thought just came to mind…" said Heather, "What if…it's more things vanishing that just the journal pages?" Harold, Donald, and Goofy turned around to face her.

"Huh?" asked Harold.

"Goofy was telling us about another castle we've been to, but none of us truly remember it," said Heather, "Back in Nowhere, the whole time we were doubting whether or not we knew something. We didn't know if it was Courage on trial the last time, and Harold forgot who Shirley is. Not only that but we've had trouble with our memory in general. We've been forgetting things out of the blue."

"What does it all mean?" asked Harold, earning a slap in the head from Heather.

"Isn't is obvious? We're losing our memories in this castle!" said Heather.

"Losing…our memories?" asked Donald.

Jiminy jumped onto Heather's shoulder, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's right! Do you remember what that mystery fella said? _To find is to lose and to lose is to find_. It must have been our memories he was talking about."

"Then if we keep going…we'll lose more memories." Said Heather.

"Guess it really is Castle Oblivion." Said Harold.

"So the higher we go, the more we forget?" asked Donald. Everyone looked down, too afraid to answer. Donald continued, "Does that mean everything and everyone will be forgotten?"

"Leshawna too?" asked Harold, saddened.

"The worst part is that this supports my belief that I'll slowly turn into who I once was." Said Heather, saddened. "If I start forgetting the things that made me change, choosing light over darkness, then I'll slowly regress back into who I used to be."

"Do you guys want to go back?" asked Donald. Heather and Harold looked at each other, uneasy.

"Don't worry fellahs!" said Goofy. Everyone looked up at him, curious what he had to say.

"We might forget about where we've been or what things we've seen, but we won't forget who our friends are." He continued. "They're not just in our memories, they're in our hearts."

"I don't know…" said Donald.

"Goofy's right." Said Heather. "When I turned into a Heartless I still remembered all the important people. You three, my mother, everyone I've met. My mother especially…"

"There ya go!" said Goofy. "No matter what happens, you won't forget your friends! And don't worry Heather, as long as you don't' forget us, which you won't, we won't let ya become like your old self!"

Heather looked around to see Harold, Goofy, and Donald, smiling at her. Looking at her friends, she felt more secure and sure that her fears won't come to fruition.

"Right again Goofy." Said Heather. "Thank you. You're one smart dog."

"So if there's nothing here that can make you forget your friends," began Harold, "Then we have nothing to be scared of!" Harold began walking towards the door, with Goofy following.

"Though I am a little worried about Donald." Said Heather. "His memory was bad enough to begin with."

"Hey!" said Donald, "What are you talking about!"

"When I turned into a Heartless...who took forever to notice and kept hitting me?" asked Heather, playfully.

Donald turned around, saying "Oh _that's_ what you remember." He said, storming off angrily towards the door. Harold and Goofy were cracking up, and even Heather was laughing a little bit.

"See, if we remember the silly stuff, then we'll never forget!" said Goofy.

"True." Said Heather. "All right, back to business. Let's get going to the next floor." She walked up to the door, and reached into her back pocket. She pulled out the Olympus Coliseum card.

"Phil and Hercules reside in this world." Said Heather. "Good, I still remember that much." She raised the card, as it disappeared. The doors flashed and slowly opened, filling the room with light. Heather shielded her eyes and walked through, fully knowing what to expect on the other side.


	8. The Memory Tournament, pt 1

Once walking through the door, Heather and her friends were in the courtyard outside of the Coliseum. It was as grand as ever, big, majestic, and perfect for any hero-in training.

"Not gonna lie, kind of missed this place." Said Heather. "Let's see if anyone's inside."

Heather, Harold, and Goofy walked towards the door to the lobby, but Donald noticed a green sign to his right. He noticed it and began walking towards the sign. Heather, Harold, and Goofy noticed and went with him.

"Donald," began Harold, "Where are you going?"

"Look!" said Donald, as the others gathered around the sign. "An announcement!"

"Hmmm…"examined Jiminy, reading the announcement from Heather's shoulder, "It's for some sort of contest, called the 'Olympus Coliseum Survival Cup.' Contestants have to run an obstacle course, battling each other along the way."

"And look what it says at the bottom," said Harold, "The great hero Hercules will also compete for the cup."

"It says he's never been beaten." Said Goofy.

"Never been beaten?" asked Heather. "Hmmm…sounds like Hercules."

"Didn't you try fighting him that one time but lost?" asked Harold.

"Yeah, but he still called me a hero." Said Heather.

"See," said Harold, "If we keep refreshing our memories every now and then we'll keep our memories."

"Good idea Harold." Said Heather, "Meanwhile, let's enter the cup."

"Just like ya Heather." Said Goofy, "Wherever there's a contest, you're always rarin' to join up."

"You're going to compete even if we don't, right?" asked Donald.

"Of course." Said Heather, "I am a natural winner! The forces of Light are lucky to have me as their champion." Harold just rolled his eyes.

"Well then we'd better tag along." Said Donald.

"Hold it everyone, there's more." Said Jiminy. "Only contestants who finish the preliminary course may enter the main competition. It says the preliminary course is just ahead."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Said Heather. She started walking towards the door when a light flashed. A card appeared, the _Key of Beginnings._ Heather grabbed hold of it and put it away. She immediately continued walking towards the lobby, followed by Harold, Donald, and Goofy. She opened the door, and a light flashed. She walked through as Harold, Donald, and Goofy disappeared. After they left, a figure came out onto the courtyard.

The figure was big with dark skin and had a black toga on with flaming blue hair. It had Hades. He walked up to the sign and examined it. He read it out loud, "Hercules is a model of true strength and gallantry-the perfect hero?" Hades was angered with the last sentence. His hair turned red as this body was covered in red flames.

"Oh he's perfect all right…" said Hades, "PERFECTLY INFURIATING! Just thinking about that little sunspot makes my blood boil! Oh, how I would love to drag him into the Underworld…"

"This is why you hired me." Said a voice, who approached Hades. He had a yellow jumpsuit and a black mask.

"That's right. You're my man…Wolverine is it?" asked Hades. "Your job is to beat Hercules in the games, and once you're got him cornered…finish the job! Do that for me and-"

"You restore my lost memories." Said Wolverine, interrupting Hades. "As we agreed."

"You have my word." Said Hades, as Wolverine walked away. Meanwhile, the light cleared and Heather uncovered her eyes. She was not in the Coliseum lobby, but in a distorted room. It was a long and narrow room with no roof. The walls were the same as the walls in the Coliseum itself, with holes in them acting as windows. There were "sidewalks" on both sides with pillars on them.

"Oh I get it…this is the preliminary course." Said Heather, noticing the room's similarity to an obstacle course. There were Blue Rhapsodies all throughout the room, floating above Heather. Heather ran towards the end of the room, where there was a door (though it didn't have a crown on it), but stopped halfway there in realization that she lacked the room card. She hit a Blue Rhapsody with her Keyblade and in the blink of an eye, was in the Coliseum itself. In front of her stood two Blue Rhapsodies, two Powerwilds, two Bouncywilds, and a Large Body.

"That's more Heartless than I'm used to." Said Heather. She summoned Woody, needing a distraction, and directed it to attack the Large Body. Meanwhile the Bouncywilds and Powerwilds were circling around her, jumping up and down like the crazy monkeys they were supposed to imitate. The two Blue Rhapsodies launched ice crystals down at Heather, who was too distracted by the monkeys, was hit. She got an idea and cast Blizzard on the ground when a Bouncywild jumped up. he Bouncywild tripped, making all the monkey Heartless fall down. Heather jumped away from them and cast Fire at the Blue Rhapsody, hitting it. She jumped up and swung her Keyblade at it like mad, defeating it. She saw a Harold card near the Bouncywilds and Powerwilds and decided to take her chances. She ran over to it and got it, just as a Bouncywild was jumping at her. Heather swung her Keyblade, knocking it away. She summoned Harold just as Woody disappeared, and the Large Body got back up.

"Harold, deal with the monkeys!" commanded Heather.

Harold swung his num-yos at the monkeys, tying all four up with his num-yos. Heather went up and combined her top three cards (total-13) and performed the Sliding Dash (though carefully enough to not break the num-yos) and hit all four Monkeys. She turned around and kept hitting them, eliminating one Powerwild and one Bouncywild. Harold took his num-yos and gestured for a high five. Heather rolled her eyes and put her hand up, but Harold disappeared before she could do anything.

She turned around and saw an Ice Crystal coming right at her. She dodged it swiftly only to see a Large Body running right at her. She sidestepped again and hit it from behind. The Large Body fell on the ground, giving Heather the chance to keep swinging her Keyblade until it was defeated. Unfortunately, the cost was all of her cards. She turned around and saw the Blue Rhapsody floating as the Bouncywild and Powerwild were jumping around. She closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. She felt a surge of power and opened her eyes, noticing that her cards had returned. She saw a shadow overhead and saw the two monkey Heartless jumping at her. She held her Keyblade up high, blocking them, and then threw them at the Blue Rhapsody. They all crashed on the ground, the Blue Rhapsody crushed under the weight of the two Heartless.

"Talk about killing two birds with one stone." Said Heather. She ran up to the monkeys and combined her top three cards (total-21), attempting to perform the Sliding Dash, but the combined total of her cards was two high. Instead, she instinctively slammed her Keyblade down on the monkeys, creating an orange sphere to appear where the Keyblade had touched down, encompassing both Monkeys. They were still alive, but unconscious. Heather had unknowingly performed the Stun Impact.

"That's gonna come in handy." Said Heather, finishing off the monkeys easily due to their immobility. Out of the Bouncywild came a card towards Heather, it was a red card with a Kingdom Key on it. She added it to her deck. Out of the Powerwild came another card-a red card with a picture of a Shadow on it. She was transported back into the previous room and went up to the door at the end. She held up the red card, and it disappeared in Heather's hands as the door opened up. She walked through and was in a room similar to the coliseum lobby. The room was awkwardly shaped. It was straight, before making a left, then making a right. At the end was a door with a crown on it. Heather understood that she needed to get past that door to finish the preliminaries.

She saw a Shadow on the ground and whacked it with her Keyblade. She was back in the Coliseum, and in front of her stood 6 Shadows. She decided to combine her top three cards, intending to replicate the success of the Stun Impact. The total added up to 14, and she ended up using the Sliding Dash, hitting two Shadows.

"Guess I should pay more attention to the values." Said Heather. She turned around and hit the Shadow again with her Keyblade, defeating it. The four other Shadows blended in with the ground, and snuck up on Heather from the ground, hitting her from under. She jumped up and slammed the Keyblade down on all four of them, sending them flying in opposite directions. She cast Fire on a Shadow, and then Blizzard twice, defeating it. She turned around and hit another Shadow relentlessly, defeating it. Only three Shadows remained. She combined her top three cards again, but this time saw the values, (total-22). She never paid attention to the values, so shrugged it off hoping that she'd be able to perform the Stun Impact. She was right, and she slammed down her Keyblade on the three remaining Shadows, rendering them all unconscious. She defeated two of them with her Keyblade, then looked down to see the last one was missing. She turned around but saw nothing. She felt something on her back. It was the Shadow, clawing at her from behind. Heather yelled and grabbed the Shadow, throwing it up high. Heather prepared her Keyblade like a baseball bat, and hit the Shadow as it plunged back down. It was sent against a column and disintegrated. Out of it came a card, it was blue and had a photo of a Treasure Chest on it.

Heather was transported back to the distorted lobby room, and ran right up to the door. She held up the blue card and the _Key of Beginnings_, both disappearing as the door opened. She stepped through and was in the actual lobby. It was largely unchanged from the last time she was there. Up ahead was Phil, with a clipboard in his hands. Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind Heather and the four walked up to him. He looked up off his clipboard and noticed them.

"Huh? Where did you guys come from?" asked Phil. "Don't tell me you guys finished the prelims!"

"Nice to see you too Phil." remarked Heather.

"Huh? How do you know my name?" asked Phil.

Heather crossed her arms and scoffed while Harold replied, "Well who hasn't heard of the great hero trainer Phil?"

"Oh yeah, that's true." Said Phil.

"Whatever." Said Heather, accepting that no one remembers her. "We finished the preliminaries and now we want to go for the cup."

"Well you came to the right place." Said Phil, "Though none of you stand a chance against Herc."

"Why not?" asked Donald.

"Two words." Said Phil, "You guys ain't heroes!"

"You're wrong." Said Heather.

"I know right!" began Harold. "Gosh! That's four words!" he rolled his eyes.

"Not the point Harold." Said Heather. "First of all, I have a Hero license."

"You do?" asked Phil, shocked.

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna show it to you to prove a point." Said Heather.

"And what point might that be?" asked Phil, hardly believing that Heather had a hero license since she didn't show it to him.

"You can't judge how much of a hero someone is without giving them a chance." Said Heather. "If you do that how can you expect them to improve?"

Phil stood there, mouth open and speechless, not knowing how to reply. Hercules walked in, hearing the last thing Heather said.

"The girl is right Phil." Said Hercules, "Also they cleared the preliminaries, I think they deserve a shot."

"Well technically I cleared the preliminaries alone but…" said Heather before getting glares from her friends. "Nevermind."

"You have a point there Herc." Said Phil, "But still…"

"Of course we could always cancel the games." Said Hercules.

"Cancel them?" asked Heather. "What for?"

"Old Phil's prelim course was so tough that no one else could finish it." Said Hercules.

Harold thought hard, before saying, "So then Heather should be allowed to compete, so you won't have to cancel the games."

The group stared down Phil, who looked uneasy. "Well…okay, okay. You got me over a barrel kid. Here's how it works, gal."

"Before you begin, you should know it's Heather, not gal." Said Heather.

"Sure, sure, gal." Said Phil, ignoring what Heather said. She crossed her arms and scoffed. "Since your team and Hercules are the only contenders-"

"No they're not." Said a voice. They all turned around and saw Wolverine walking in. "The games have a new challenger, name's Wolverine."

"The more the merrier!" said Phil. "Now the games will really be something to see!"

"They will with me in them!" said another voice. They looked at the door again and saw two figures walking in. One was running in and fell on the ground, exhausted. He had a red tracksuit and a red headband-Tyler. Alongside him and walking was a guy in a green shirt and jeans, the most gorgeous man who could ever be seen-Justin. Unlike Tyler, Justin didn't seem that exhausted at all.

"Tyler?" asked Heather, Harold, Donald, and Goofy. "Justin?"

"Oh! Hey guys!" said Tyler, getting up. "I conquered the preliminary round. Can I be in the games?"

"Sure! After all, what did I just say?" asked Phil.

"That the games will really be something to see?" asked Harold.

"Before that." Said Phil.

"Since your team and Hercules are the only contenders-"

"The more the merrier!" said Phil, agitated and interrupting Harold. "Will you also be competing?" asked Phil, gesturing towards Justin.

"No thanks, a body like this can't be hurt." Said Justin. "I'll just watch from the sidelines."

"Alright then. Now the games are truly a sight to see." Said Phil, "I'm looking forward to this, don't expect me to pull any punches."

"As long as you don't expect me to take them." Said Heather. She turned to Tyler, Wolverine, and Hercules, and in a sportsman like fashion, simply said, "Good luck to you all. May the best hero win."

"Good luck to you as well." Said Hercules.

"Hmmf." Said Wolverine.

"You're going down Heather!" said Tyler, with a fighting spirit within him. For some reason, her seemed more competitive towards Heather than usual.

"Okay, let's get this show going!" said Phil, "But first I gotta explain a few rules. Rule #1: First one through the obstacle course wins. Rule #2: In the event of a tie, a battle will determine a winner. Rule #3: You can interfere with your opponents on the course. Finally…Rule #4: All challengers have to give it their all. Now go line up in front of the door! This is the starting line."

Heather, Tyler, Wolverine, and Hercules lined up with their friends cheering from the sidelines.

"You got this Heather!" said Goofy.

"Come on Tyler!" yelled Justin, waving a Tyler flag.

"On your marks…" said Phil, as the competitors prepared. "Get set…go!"

With that the four ran through the doorway. At the end was a flash of light. Heather blinked and was back in a distorted room.

"I get it, the obstacle course is getting through the doors, like the preliminaries." Said Heather, unimpressed. "Clever." A light shone above her revealing the _Key of Guidance_.It came down and Heather could get it, putting it away. She was in a room that looked like a hallway through the coliseum itself. The blue sky stationary and contrasting against the bright brick walls. There were pillars on the ground, in ruin. Heather took these as obstacles, and noticed a doorway at the end. Unfortunately it did not have a silver crown on it. She saw a Blue Nocturne in the sky and decided to strike it, wanting to get her room card sooner.

She was back in the Coliseum, facing two Blue Nocturnes and a Shadow. She cast Fire on one of the Blue Nocturnes and ran up to hit the Shadow twice with her Keyblade and then cast Blizzard twice, defeating it. Heather felt pain in her leg, turning to see her leg was frozen. She jumped up to hit the Blue Nocturne, but this was difficult because of the state her leg was in. Because she could not jump, she combined her top three cards (total-22) and used the Stun Impact on the Blue Nocturne, slamming the Keyblade down on it to send it down to her level. The impact defeated it, while the other Blue Nocturne was stunned. Heather turned around and hit it with her Keyblade, defeating it due to already being weakened by the earlier Fire. Out of the Blue Nocturne came a red card with a photo of a sleeping Shadow on it.

Heather was returned back to the distorted room. She ran right to the door, jumping over the ruined pillars in the process. When she got there, she held up the card, and it disappeared in her hand as the door opened.

Heather was now in another straightaway similar to the last one, but it had many different platforms to jump on. At the top was a door with a crown on it. Scattered around were Shadows, all sleeping. She walked up to a Shadow and hit it on the head with her Keyblade.

In the blink of an eye she was back in the Coliseum, facing off against two Shadows, two Blue Rhapsodies, and two Powerwilds. They were all asleep, giving Heather an edge. She cast Blizzard at the Powerwilds feet, waking them up. They screeched loudly, waking up the other Heartless. The two Powerwilds attempted to jump, but were held in place by their feet being frozen to the ground. Heather ran up to them, avoiding Ice Crystals from Blue Rhapsodies and scratches from Shadows. She began hitting a defenseless Powerwild, before vanquishing it. She turned around to face the other Powerwild and saw a Goofy card. She ran up to it and summoned the card immediately.

"Goofy." Said Heather. "Use your Tornado technique."

"Well…uh…didn't that guy in the coat say I forgot it?" said Goofy.

"If Donald remembers his magic and Harold remembers his dancing Nunchakus technique, you can spin around easily." Said Heather. Goofy nodded and began spinning rapidly, using his Tornado technique successfully, resulting in him hitting the two Blue Rhapsodies and finishing off the Powerwild. Meanwhile Heather combined her top three cards (total-15) and used the Sliding Dash, hitting both Shadows. She turned around and hit them relentlessly, defeating them. She saw Goofy disappear and all that was left was the Blue Rhapsodies. She cast Cure and summoned Woody, who attacked the Blue Rhapsodies. They tried shooting him with ice crystals but he pecked right through them. And he quickly made waste of them.

Heather smiled at her victory, but it was cut short when four more Bouncywilds appeared around Heather. She had no more cards in her deck, and tried concentrating, but her concentration was broken when she was hit upside the head by a Bouncywild. She saw a Harold card and dove for it, successfully retrieving it. She summoned Harold and commanded him to use his Dancing Nunchakus, before he could even say a word. He began jumping around, avoiding attacks, and hitting the Bouncywilds in the process. Meanwhile the distraction gave Heather just the time she needed to regain her concentration, and soon her deck was back. She saw Harold disappear, with one Bouncywild defeated. Heather ran, Keyblade in hand, to the Bouncywilds, only to slip on a banana peel on the ground. She lost her balance and fell hard on the ground.

"Ugh…are you serious?" asked Heather rhetorically. She got back up only to be hit in the face by a bomb. Heather repeated her earlier statement and cast Cure, followed by her combining her top three cards (total-21), giving her the opportunity to use the Stun Impact, slamming her Keyblade hard on one Bouncywild, defeating it, and stunning the other two. With the two Bouncywilds not able to move, she was able to defeat another. The last Bouncywild regained her senses and jumped at Heather, claws in hand. Heather dodged and cast Fire at it, sending it flying towards a wall. Heather cast Blizzard twice, defeating it. Out of the Bouncywild came a card: It was red and had a photo of a black mushroom on it. Heather gave an odd stare at it, not knowing what it meant. She shrugged it off when she realized that she wouldn't be entering that room, but just using that card to be able to use her _Key of Guidance._

She was returned to the distorted room with the platforms, and began climbing the platforms. Luckily for her, the Shadows were asleep meaning that she wouldn't have any unwanted run-ins, especially now that she had a room card and at the moment they were unneeded (though Heather failed to remember that she would need a room card later on). She got to the door, and held up both her _Key of Guidance_ and her red room card.

Heather ran through the door, still intent on finishing the course. She was in the Coliseum now, not surrounded by Heartless. As she ran, Harold, Donald, and Goofy, reappeared behind her, also running.

"What happened to cheering from the sidelines?" asked Heather, still running.

"Gosh! We already told you we can't control where we reappear!" said Harold.

"And if we're here we might as well run alongside you." Said Donald.

"Alright." Said Heather. She looked up ahead and saw Wolverine, standing, not moving.

"Gawrsh…that was nice of him to wait for you to catch up." Said Goofy.

"He's not waiting!" said Donald, "Remember rule #3? You can interfere with your opponents on the course."

Heather stopped and summoned her Keyblade, as Harold, Donald, and Goofy summoned their respective weapons. "Looking to narrow the field, are you?" she asked to Wolverine.

"You can put it that way." Said Wolverine. "But it's not you I'm looking for a fight with, so keep moving."

"See?" said Goofy, as everyone put their weapons down. "He was waiting for Heather to catch up!"

"Well you've caught up with him." Said Donald, to Heather, "Best to take him up on his offer and keep going."

"Well I don't see a downside…" said Heather, as they began walking past him to the end of the Coliseum. However Harold stopped and looked back.

"Are you sure?" asked Harold.

Heather slapped the back of Harold's head for questioning their advantage, to which Harold replied with a "Gosh." Her motto was that as long as it worked in their favor, they shouldn't question it. (Though there are certain exceptions).

"I'm not here for the cup." Said Wolverine.

"Then…what are you here for?" asked Heather.

"Hercules." answered Wolverine, in a serious and deadly way. "Today he loses more than the competition." As he said this, claws began growing out of his knuckles.

"Are you serious?" asked Heather, "Why?"

"Sorry, but it's purely business." Said Wolverine. "Stay out of it. Go, win your cup."

Heather replied by summoning her Keyblade, to which Wolverine turned around to face Heather.

"Do you realize what you're doing?" asked Wolverine, surprised at how a skinny girl would be so daring as to challenge him, just to save the life of Hercules.

"Rule #3: you can interfere with your opponents." Said Heather, "Or am I mistaken? I shouldn't be, I never joke about interfering with competition, it's one of my old pastimes. And there's no way I'd let you kill Hercules."

"If you want to get to him, you'll have to get through us!" said Donald, and he, Harold, and Goofy readied their weapons.

"Big mistake." Said Wolverine, as he got his claws ready. He lunged for Heather as Harold, Donald, and Goofy disappeared. She barely dodged them, and swung her Keyblade to hit him in the back. She turned around to face him and heard something to her right.

"Woo…ya….go Wolverine!" yelled Justin, who held up Wolverine and Tyler flags and was sitting on the stands.

"Seriously Justin?" asked Heather, to which Justin replied with a shrug. She felt a sharp pain in her thigh, and turned to see that Wolverine stabbed her while her back was turned. She cast Cure and then combined her top three cards (total-15) and performed the Sliding Dash, hitting him. When she was behind him she cast Fire at his back and then hit him with her Keyblade three times. He turned around and lunged towards her, claws first. She blocked with her Keyblade, provoking him to keep clawing at her. He kept attacking, and she kept blocking with neither side wanting to give in. Heather ducked and did a dodge roll to the side. She summoned Woody. He flew down intent on attacking Wolverine after seeing him, but those claws scared him and kept him away, making him act instead as a distraction rather than a force to be reckoned with.

Woody disappeared after distracting Wolverine for a short amount of time. Wolverine looked for Heather and was hit in the face by a fireball. He cleared the smoke form his face and saw a Blizzard hit his face as well. He looked up to see Donald and Heather, both with their weapons out. Donald disappeared, and Heather ran up to him. Wolverine lunged at Heather but she jumped, and using his claws as a launching pad, jumped over him while kicking him in the face. She landed on the other side of Wolverine and combined her top three cards (total-22) and performed the stun Impact, bringing her Keyblade down on his back, and stunning him for a couple moments. Wolverine shrieked in pain as he fell to the ground.

Heather hit him relentlessly until her deck had no more attack cards. She ran closed her eyes to concentrate, but felt a sharp pain as Wolverine clawed her in the face, her cheek bleeding a little bit from the claws. Heather used a potion card and ran back, though Wolverine kept chasing her, using a technique similar to the Sonic Blade. Heather couldn't get a moment to try and concentrate as she was too busy dodging. She stopped and saw Wolverine lunging at her. She ducked under his claw and crawled under his legs, appearing on the other side and running back. She saw a Harold Card and dove for it, summoning it immediately.

"Harold, use your num-yos or whatever, just make sure he's not looking at me." Said Heather.

"Just like a magic genie, your wish is my command." Said Harold as Heather rolled her eyes. Harold threw his num-yos as Wolverine's legs, making him trip. He held up his claws, ready to break them go get loose, but Harold dove and took them before he could stab it, making Wolverine stab himself. Harold stood up and hit Wolverine in the back twice with his nunchakus. Wolverine turned around, claw first to stab Harold but instead saw that he had disappeared. Wolverine couldn't ponder over what happened as he felt a burning pain in his back, and turned around to see Heather hitting him with her Keyblade. Wolverine turned around and kept blocking her hits. Heather didn't want to run out of cards, so she stepped back and cast Blizzard, freezing his claws. Wolverine smashed his claws on the ground to thaw through the ice, but this was a mistake as Heather quickly moved around him and hit him in the back while he was down, sending him down towards the ground. Heather combined her top three cards (total-22) and used the Stun Impact, hitting him hard on the back and rendering him unconscious. After a few moments he flipped over, expecting to jump up and hit Heather with his claws, but was face to face with her Keyblade. Heather made him immobile, signifying her victory.

"Let me go." Said Wolverine.

"As if." Said Heather.

In the corner of her eye, Heather could see a card appearing above her. She looked up and saw that it was a green card with a photo of a High Potion on it. Heather took notice of it and added it to her deck. When she looked back down, Wolverine was gone. She looked around and saw that he wasn't anywhere to be found. Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind Heather.

"Where'd you go?" asked Heather. She looked up to Justin. "Where did he go, Justin?"

"What?" asked Justin, barely paying attention. "Oh, I didn't pay attention to the battle. I found a mirror under my seat and was too distracted by it."

"Of course." Said Heather. Jiminy came up on Heather's shoulder.

"I saw! He went towards the finish line!" said Jiminy. "We'd better go after him!"

"Move out." Commanded Heather, as she turned to face the exit. However another light flashed above her and came down. It was the _Key to Truth_. Heather grabbed hold of it and continued running towards the exit, her friends right behind her. She knew if she didn't make it on time Hercules' fate would be sealed.


	9. The Memory Tournament, pt 2

Heather ran through the Coliseum exit, her determination not allowing her to shield her eyes when the lights between rooms flashed. She wanted to save Hercules, even if she would lose a little eyesight from the immense light. On the other side, she was in an indoor room which looked like a basement for the Coliseum. There were multiple levels, and a door at the end, with no crown on it.

Heather ran up to a nearby Shadow and hit it on its head with her Keyblade. Heather was transported back to the Coliseum, and was facing two Shadows, two Blue Rhapsodies, and two Powerwilds. She ran up and combined her top three cards (total-22), allowing her to use the Stun Impact. She slammed her Keyblade down on a Blue Rhapsody, defeating it, and stunned all of the Heartless due to their close proximity to each other. She combined her next three cards (total-15) and used the Sliding Dash, hitting all Heartless and defeating a Shadow. All of the Heartless regained their senses, and the angry Powerwilds jumped on Heather, claws out.

She hit them with her Keyblade as they jumped at her, hitting them and sending them back. She was intent on running up to them and finishing them off, but felt a sharp pain in both her legs and looked down. One was frozen solid and the other was scratched deeply by a Shadow. She cast Cure and cast Fire on the Blue Rhapsody, defeating it. She cast Blizzard twice at the Shadow, defeating it. She turned to face the Powerwilds, which were running right at her. She saw a green Donald card right behind them and jumped over the incoming Powerwilds to get it. Unfortunately she landed on a banana peel (planted by one of the Powerwilds). She slipped and fell down hard on the ground. She stood back up, not wanting to let the card get away, and reached for it, only for it to disappear right as it was in her hand.

"Dammit." She muttered. She turned and ran towards the Powerwilds, and began swinging her Keyblade at them. One of them attempted to claw her hip, but she guarded and counter attacked. She hit the other Powerwild, defeating it. She ran up to the first Powerwild and stabbed it, defeating it. Heather looked up and saw four Bouncywilds appeared. A light appeared above Heather, materializing into a Harold card. Heather jumped up got it.

"Can't they all be that convenient to get?" queried Heather as she summoned her friend.

"Alright Heather, what's the plan?" asked Harold.

"I don't know." Said Heather, not knowing what to do for once. "Just defeat as many as possible, I need to reload my deck."

A Bouncywild came at Heather, but she ducked and ran to the edge. Another one jumped at Harold, but he decided to do his dancing nunchakus technique. Unfortunately, when he landed, he landed on a banana peel, slipping. He got back up, his back sore from the fall, and straightaway hit a Bouncywild with his nunchakus, defeating it as he disappeared.

Meanwhile Heather, who had her deck back, cast Fire at a Bouncywild, and then Blizzard twice at it, defeating it. The two others sent bombs at Heather, but she hit them with her Keyblade, returning them to senders. The Bounywilds caught the bombs in their hands, then looked at what they were, and slowly looked at each other. They exploded, and when the smoke cleared up, all that was there was a card. It was red and had a Shadow on it.

Heather was transported back to the distorted room, and climbed the platforms to the door (avoiding Heartless). She got to the door and used her red card, opening the door. She passed through and was in a room similar to the lobby, but it was more of a Hallway. There were no levels or fallen pillars, it was a straight dash to the door at the end, which had a crown on it. Blue Rhapsodies were floating around, and Heather knew what she needed to do.

She jumped up and hit a Blue Rhapsody with her Keyblade, and was transported to the Coliseum, facing off against a Shadow and two Blue Rhapsodies. Heather wasted no time and jumped up and hit a Blue Rhapsody three times with her Keyblade, then performing a downward slash, sending it down towards the ground where it was defeated. She landed back on the ground where she saw an ice crystal being sent at her in the corner of her eye. She jumped back, casting Fire at the Blue Rhapsody in mid-air, then landing back down. The Shadow was right under Heather, and jumped up and clawed at her. She threw it off with her Keyblade and then hit it until it was vanquished.

A card appeared where the Shadow was, a blue card with a photo of a Treasure Chest on it. Heather grabbed the card and was back in the distorted room. Wasting no time, and ran to the door at the end. She took out the _Key to Truth_ and the blue card she received and held them both up as the door opened. Heather shielded her eyes and ran through the light-filled door.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the regular coliseum again. Heather was about to question the logic in why she was back in the room she was just in, but saw Hercules and Wolverine fighting up ahead, and decided to run to them instead, As she ran, Harold, Donald, and Goofy all appeared, running alongside her as well. As they arrived to where the fight was, Wolverine was on the ground, panting hard as Hercules was still standing.

"You've lost!" said Hercules. "Give up Wolverine!"

Wolverine mustered up what little energy he had left and stood up, though his weakened state was noticeable. "We're not…done yet." He said.

"I can't guarantee your safety if we keep going like this." Said Hercules, sternly.

"Better worry about yourself." Said Wolverine, "Looks to me like you're slowing down a bit."

Hercules was panting hard, and the thought of battling any longer was weakening him mentally. Heather and her friends just watched all of this form the sidelines. Heather didn't want to interfere, but when the two got back into battle poses, she crossed her arms and walked inbetween both of them.

"Alright boys, the fighting's over." Said Heather, sternly. She sounded like the mother to two teenagers who were fighting over something silly.

"I have a mission and I intend to accomplish it." Said Wolverine, still panting. "I don't care if I have to take you down to complete it."

"Like that's gonna happen." Said Heather. "I already defeated you once, and in the weakened state you're in, you're not even a challenge."

"I don't care." Said Wolverine. "I want my memories back and I won't let anything stop me."

"Your memories back?" asked Heather, as Harold, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other nervously.

"Now, now, Wolverine." Said a voice. They all turned and saw Hades walking towards them. "We wouldn't want to spill the beans."

"Of course Hades would have something to do with this." Said Heather, summoning her Keyblade. While she didn't remember much, she did remember the many attempts Hades tried to defeat her, only for them all to end in failure.

"Looks like you oversold yourself." Said Hades, "All you did was wearing him down. This doesn't look too good for your performance rating…"

"Performance rating?" asked Harold. "Is there some kind of assassin website? What is it called, 'Help'?" he said, laughing. Heather, who was far away from Harold, looked at Donald with a glare. He gulped and turned to Harold.

"Sorry for this Harold…" said Donald. He slapped Harold's head in place of Heather.

"Gosh!" said Harold.

"I was making a joke, kid." Said Hades. "Meanwhile…you my clawed friend are…how do I put this…fired."

Wolverine's jaw dropped. The one chance he had of restoring his memories was now gone. "But my memories!" he said. "We had a deal!"

"Did you really think you could get your memories like that?" asked Hades, coldly. "Get a grip."

Wolverine shouted angrily, as Hades hit him on the head, knocking him out. Hades turned to Hercules. "I'll deal with the little Irk-ules myself." The coliseum got darker as Hades' skin got darker, his blue flames turning into red flames, soon encompassing his whole body rather than just his head. He raised his hands, and a plume of fire rained down on them. Heather jumped to her friends, who took cover while Hercules took the heat full blast. He fell down to the ground, weakened.

"Rule #5," said Hades, "It's never too late to enter the games."

"Hades…" said Hercules, panting, "You were behind this from the start!"

"Wolverine may have failed to take you down, but he did break you down." Said Hades, "Time for plan B. Pack your pita Herc…cause you just won a free trip to…the Underworld! All expenses paid by…me. Actually there is one expense…your life!"

Heather ran over to them and stood in front of Hercules, protecting him. She got into a battle pose as her friends stood behind her, also in battle stances.

"Hold it right there!" said Heather.

"Heather, no!" cried Hercules.

"Come on Hercules, how will we get that one-on-one fight if you're in the Underworld?" asked Heather.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of this hothead." Said Harold. Heather looked back, hand raised and ready to slap, but put it down realizing it was not the time.

"Hothead am I?" yelled Hades. "Well…that's kind of true. But still! And don't worry Heather, you'll get to join him as well! Rule #6: there are no rules! Hahahaha!"

Harold, Donald, and Goofy disappeared, leaving Heather there alone.

"Run Hercules." Said Heather.

"But Heather-"

"Now!" she said, not letting him finish. "And take Wolverine with you!"

Not being able to argue, Hercules complied, leaving Heather alone with Hades. Heather ran up and attacked Hades with her Keyblade, sending him back a couple feet. Hades shot flames out his hands at Heather, who ducked and dodged them. But he turned around and cornered her with his flames, burning her for a couple seconds. She cast Cure and then cast Blizzard twice at him, hurting him. Hades shot flames out of his hands again, and under the flames was a green Donald card. Heather ran towards the flames, then slid on the ground to summon it. Donald appeared alongside her on the ground, parallel to the flames, provoking Hades to begin moving his hands down to hurt them. Heather could feel the fire coming up her feet.

"Blizzard! Now!" said Heather. Donald cast Blizzard point blank at Hades' hands, freezing them and not letting him shoot fire. Donald disappeared as Heather cast Cure and combined her top three cards (total-15) to use the Sliding Dash on him, then combined her cards again (total-22) and used the Stun Impact, bringing her Keyblade down on him and rendering him unconscious. Heather took advantage and hit him a couple more times. He regained consciousness and his body irrupted in flames out of anger.

"Do you think you can take on the ruler of the Underworld?" he yelled angrily.

"It's not the first time, knew that?" Said Heather. She summoned Woody who came down to peck Hades. However Hades saw him coming and shot flames at Woody, who could do nothing but dodge them. While he was distracted with Woody, Heather snuck up on him and hurt him more with her Keyblade, sending him face forward into the ground. She combined her top three cards (total-22) and performed the Stun Impact while he was down, hurting him further and leaving him unconscious once more. She hit him until she had no more attack cards, and he stood back up, angrier than ever. His whole body was now in flames, and he stuck out his hands with fire coming out of each, covering a wide area. Heather tried to reload her deck but Hades was slowly spinning, and if she didn't pay attention who should be fried. She ran inbetween the flames, avoiding them when possible. He changed directions, catching Heather off guard and flaming her entire body. Since she had the Keyblade, she wasn't reduced to charred dust and quickly used a High Potion, and when the flames died down, a Goofy card appeared next to her. She grabbed it and summoned Goofy.

Hades walked up to Heather and shot flames at her, but luckily Goofy was there to protect her with his shield. While she was protected by Goofy, she reloaded her deck.

"Goofy, help me jump." Said Heather. Goofy held his Shield with one hand and held out his other hand for Heather to use as a launching pad. She jumped on it and jumped over Hades, casting Blizzard twice when she was directly over him. The flames stopped and he held his hands to his head in pain.

"Ahhhh!" He cried. "Brain freeze." Heather landed and turned around only to be punched and burned in the face by Hades, whose hands were covered in flames. He was panting hard, and to say he was angry was an understatement. He punched her again, sending her back. He walked over to her and slammed down his fists on her, burning her even more. He tried to do it again, but Heather held out her Keyblade and blocked. She rolled over, dodging another punch and used Cure. She stood up and hit Hades in the back before running towards the edge of the Coliseum. She saw a Harold card and grabbed it, summoning him.

"Have a plan?" asked Harold.

"Not at all." Said Heather. "My memories would really come in handy right now so I could remember how to beat him."

"If you _did_ beat him." Replied Harold, as Heather looked at him, not wanting him to bring up that her memory might be lying to her.

"Look out!" yelled Harold, as he saw a fireball coming straight for Heather. He pushed her out of the way and took the hit, being sent straight to the back wall of the Coliseum before falling on the ground, exhausted and charred. He disappeared shortly after.

"Harold!" yelled Heather.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" said Hades, sarcastically. "Did I accidently deep fry your little friend there?"

Heather formulated a plan, in her head, wanting to avenge Harold. She cast the Bushwick card and angrily ran over to Hades and hit him with her Keyblade, making him bend over in pain. She got on his back and jumped straight up. When she was at a high point, she combined her top three cards (total-21) and used the Stun Impact with all of her force, hitting him harder than she had the entire battle (due to the power boost brought on by the Bushwick card). He was sent hurling towards the ground, unconscious. He disappeared in a black flame, and on the ground where he was, a black card with his face appeared. Heather picked it up and read it to see what it would do, "_Increases fire resistance_." She added it to her deck as her friend appeared behind her.

"Are you alright Harold?" asked Heather. Harold was still charred from the battle. Donald cast Cure on him to help his healing get along.

"I'm fine." Said Harold. "Part of a heroes duty, sacrifice and all that." Heather rolled her eyes, but was happy that her friend was alright. She heard footsteps and turned to see Hercules and Phil coming her way. Hercules was carrying Wolverine, and dropped him off near the door.

"I'll go watch over him." Said Jiminy, running to him.

"So Hercules, " Heather asked, "Are we gonna fight?"

"Unfortunately not." Said Hercules.

"How come?" asked Heather.

"The games are cancelled." Said Phil.

"Are you serious?" asked Heather, irritated that everything was for nothing. "How come?"

"Two words!" said Phil. "Everyone is pooped!"

"Gosh! That's three words." Said Harold, rolling his eyes.

"But I deserve a match with Hercules!" said Heather.

"Sorry Heather." Said Hercules. "You wouldn't want to fight me in this condition anyways. It wouldn't be fair. Plus I'd imagine you're also pretty exhausted. Let's have a match when I've rested up a bit. Can you wait?"

"Well...if I suppose anything is worth waiting for, it's that." Said Heather, smiling. "I'm gonna hold you to that, though."

"Then it's settled." Said Hercules, smiling as well.

"Heather! Over here!" yelled Jiminy, pointing to Wolverine, "He's coming too!"

Everyone ran over to them. "Are you alright?" asked Heather.

"Yeah." He said. "Sorry I messed up your games." He stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hey!" yelled Heather. Wolverine turned to face her. "I hope you get your memories back. I know how it feels to lose them." As she said this, Harold, Donald, and Goofy looked down, a little saddened.

"Forget about what Hades said." Continued Heather, "Sometimes the most insignificant memories can make you remember stuff you forgot years ago."

"If it's an important memory, you'll never be able to forget it!" said Harold, as Heather nodded.

"You'll hold those memories forever, in your heart!" said Goofy.

"At least that's what we think." Said Heather. Wolverine turned around and threw Heather a blue card. On it was a photo of himself. It was a summon card.

"That's for helping me out." Said Wolverine, as he left. Heather and her friends just watched in silence as the lone mutant left.

"Well…" began Phil. "If there's nothing else to do-"

"Hold it!" yelled a voice. They all turned to see Tyler (with ripped up closed and charred skin) running towards them, exhausted. "Did…I…win…the…games?" he asked, gasping for air.

"Actually the games are cancelled." Said Heather. "And you're the last competitor to get here so even they weren't cancelled you'd come in last place. By a lot."

"What?" he said, shocked. "No!"

"Don't worry Tyler, you didnt' have a chance anyways with Heather competing." Said Justin.

"I just wanted to beat Heather for her…ya know?" said Tyler.

"Who, Lindsay?" asked Heather.

"Don't even bring her into this." said Tyler, angry.

"No, not Lindsay, someone you treated much worse you rotten she-devil." Said Justin. He carried a limp Tyler on his shoulder as they walked away. "Nice seeing you Harold."

"Ugh!" yelled Heather, throwing her hands in the air. "Who are they talking about?"

"Who knows?" asked Harold.

"Is everyone we run into just gonna be angry at me?" asked Heather.

"Maybe it's just bad luck." Said Donald. "I mean you did beat Tyler numerous times in front of his girlfriend so he might harbor some more resentment." Heather shot him an angry glare before he changed the subject. "Uh…let's get going, progress always cheers you up."

"Ugh. Fine." Said Heather. She said her goodbyes to Hercules and Phil and walked through the exit, muttering under her breath "Just an illusion, just an illusion." She was in a distorted room, made to look like the courtyard of the Coliseum, where in front of her was another tall ladder, going all the way to a high level. Heather cursed under her breath and climbed it. At the top was another doorframe filled with light. She walked through and entered the Floor 3 Exit Hall. As she walked, her friends reappeared behind her, walking with her, though Donald's head was down as he walked, a little saddened.

"I hope the king is gonna be okay." Said Donald. Everyone turned around to face him.

"Why bring that up?" asked Heather, confused as to why Donald would mention that out of the blue.

"Just making sure that I hadn't forgotten him." Said Donald. "Remember that we need to keep refreshing our memories every now and then."

"And now I know that I also didn't forget him!" said Goofy.

"And we're on a quest to find him." Said Donald.

"I remember that too!" said Goofy, as memories flashed through his head. He remembered the king closing the door to darkness. "He saved everyone by staying on the other side of the door to darkness! I think…"

"No, you're right!" Said Harold. "He stayed there with my sweet luscious Leshawna! We're trying to find her too! I bet they're still together."

"And I remember that we need to find him soon." Said Donald. "That's something I'd never forget."

"I guess there's no way we'll forget the most important memories." Said Heather. "Especially with our friends and loved ones. My mom, DJ, you guys, and even Izzy."

"That's good!" said Donald. "I don't want to forget!"

"I can live with losing small insignificant memories like whether or not I beat Hercules in the coliseum." Said Heather. "It's those bigger memories which are devastating to lose. Come on, let's keep going."

Heather turned around and walked towards the staircase at the end. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, they were being watched. In another room in the Castle, Jonesy was watching them through a giant crystal ball.

"Hot and smart." Said Jonesy, smirking. "My kind of girl."

"Ugh." Said a feminine voice. "Will you quit it already?" Jonesy saw a figure in a black coat coming towards him. The figure put down her hood, revealing a teenage girl with shoulder length brown hair, oversized braces, and acne. "You're not gonna get her, she'ssh dissh-gusted by you. All girlssh are."

"Pretty big talk coming from brace face over here." Said Jonesy. The girl looked mad at him. "Why are you here, Julie?"

"Just wanted to ishpy on our little captive." She said, saliva coming out of her mouth as she spoke due to her braces.

"Who wouldn't?" asked Jonesy.

"Issh that all you like about her?" asked Julie, "Her appearance? Appearance issh far from the mossht important thing."

"You _would_ say that." Said Jonesy, gaining another glare from Julie. "But that's not the only reason I'm interested in her. In fact, the reason I'm interested in her should be enough to interest everyone in the organization."

"So everyone sshhould just love her because she'ssh hot and popular?" asked Julie. "I'm sshure _he_ would be really happy to hear that."

"That's a small part, but not what I'm talking about." Said Jonesy, getting an intrigued look from Julie. "There was a time when she became a Heartless, and if one becomes a Heartless-"

"They losshe their mindssh and their feelingssh." Continued Julie, "They're consshumed by the darknessh."

"Right, but not Heather." Said Jonesy. "She held on to her feelings even as a Heartless. As we all know, only one other man has been able to do that."

Julie began thinking, before saying "It'ssh the ishtrength of her heart…"

"Which leads me to why she interests me." Said Jonesy. "When she first got the Keyblade, anyone would guess that her heart was ruled more by darkness than light. She was cruel to all those around her, and she was selfish. If only you'd seen some of the things she'd done in her world."

"Sshe acted like any popular girl." Said Julie in realization, "But sshe still got the Keyblade. That's what interestssh you. Why the Keyblade chose Heather'ssh heart. Why her heart became so powerful in sshuch a short amount of time."

"That, and she's also magnificently hot." Said Jonesy, to which Julie rolled her eyes. "Plus I'm just following the organizations mission: To unlock the mysteries of the heart."

"Well can't you do it without flirting with her?" asked Julie. "We're sshupposshed to be intimidating, not perverted."

"What's the worst that can happen, I get fired?" asked Jonesy. "I've been fired enough times to not care."

"We don't fire anyone, nor retires, but worsshe than that…" said Julie, smiling wickedly. Jonesy thought about her words for a second before shuddering.

"Alright, alright, I'll control myself more." Said Jonesy. "Meanwhile let's watch as our plan begins. The seeds should be planted in Heather's memories." They looked at the crystal ball to see that Heather and her friends had reached the Floor 4 Entrance Hall.

"I wonder if there's anything we've forgotten." Queried Donald.

"If we did, what would it have been?" asked Goofy. "Well I can't think of anything so I guess I really am losing my memories."

"Of course." Said Harold. "If we remembered what we forgot then we wouldn't have forgotten it."

"Oh yeah…" said Goofy.

"Don't worry." Said Heather. "Whatever we've forgotten by now is probably just insignificant memories. Important memories would take much longer to forget. I still remember my time on the Island and my time in the studio….unfortunately."

"But do you remember everyone forgiving you?" asked Harold.

"I remember Beth and Lindsay cause I wronged them the most, but now Beth's forgiveness is probably meaningless." Said Heather. "I remember making amends with Gwen and Duncan. I remember becoming friends with DJ."

After hearing that, Harold whistled. Heather rolled her eyes. "I also remember becoming friends with Izzy after holding her heart." Said Heather. "She even gave me something which I guess is a token of our friendship…kind of."

Heather reached into her pocket and pulled out a good luck charm.

"What is that?" asked Donald.

"This is a good luck charm that Izzy made on the island." Said Heather, "She gave it to me for good luck before the final battle, and I guess it stands as a symbol of our newfound friendship. I…I think I remember seeing her making it." Heather closed her eyes and thought hard.

FLASHBACK

Izzy was sitting on the beach at Camp Wawanakwa with Owen, their feet in the ocean. They were sharing stories of their past experiences. The last challenge was the cooking challenge, where Beth was voted off due to bringing her team bad luck. The next challenge wasn't too far off. Izzy was making a good luck charm while she spoke with Owen, made of seashells.

From far away, Heather was witnessing the affair angrily, glaring at the two. She could see a new relationship blossoming, and she did not want that. To her, relationships were alliances, and the only alliance that she would allow to exist would be her own alliance. Beside her were the two girls in said alliance, though they didn't know what they were supposed to be looking at. On the left was Lindsay, clueless as ever. On the right was a tall girl abound Heather's height. She had a blue shirt and green shorts, as well as oversized headphones and a blue visor. She had a large orange ponytail, and was looking on at the affair with Heather, though unlike Heather, the girl was smiling happily.

END FLASHBACK

"Huh?" asked Heather.

"Are you alright Heather?" asked Harold.

"What?" she asked. "Yeah I…I'm fine." In her head, she was thinking "_Who was that girl?_"

"We'd better get going." Said Goofy, pointing towards the door.

"Good idea." Said Heather. "Let's go."

Heather walked towards the door, followed by her friends. She pulled out a card from her back pocket, getting Amazonian Plateau. She held up the card, and it disappeared as the door opened. Light filled the already bright room as Heather walked through, already hearing sounds of the jungle.


	10. Up to the Jungle, pt 1

**Floor 4 - Amazonian Plateau**

Heather walked through the door, followed by her friends, with the four of them arriving in the jungle. They were not just in any jungle, but they were back in the Amazonian Plateau. There was a collective peace in the jungle, no sounds of monkeys howling or birds flying, just the sound of Heather's footsteps, Harold's sniffing probably due to an allergy, and the huge waterfall that the world was known for. Some would even go as far as to call is paradise. Even so, they were in the middle of the jungle, so they didn't know where they were or where to go.

"Well this is great. What do we do now?" asked Heather.

"Why don't we look for something out of the ordinary." Said Goofy.

Another sound could be heard, thousands of balloons rubbing up against each other. The group looked up and saw dozens of balloons in the sky, carrying a house.

"Is that….a flying house?" asked Heather.

"You don't see that everyday." said Goofy.

"Yeah, don't ya remember from the last time?" asked Donald.

"I…guess not." Said Heather, looking down.

"On the bright side, that means you'll experience the excitement of being in a flying house all over again!" said Harold. Heather looked up and smiled a bit. Even though Harold got on her nerves numerous times, he could always make a bad situation good.

"Thanks Harold." Said Heather. "Well, there's nothing else to do. Let's go there."

"Maybe Carl can help us." said Donald.

"Who's Carl?" asked Heather. "Oh forget it, let's just go." Heather walked a step and a light flashed, forcing her to shield her eyes. When she uncovered them, she was still in the jungle (albeit alone), but there were two doors she could see. One up ahead on top of a small cliff, and another to her left. Neither doors had crowns on them. There were Powerwilds roaming about. A light flashed above her and down came a familiar sign: the _Key of Beginnings_.

Heather ran up to a Powerwild and hit it with her Keyblade. Soon she was surrounded by two Powerwilds and two Bouncywilds. She summoned Wolverine, who jumped out of a portal, immediately clawing a Bouncywild. He clawed at it a few more times, vanquishing it, then disappeared.

"Wow, he's gonna be useful." Said Heather. She ran to hit a Bouncywild but tripped on a banana peel. She cursed under her breath and saw a Bouncywild jumping at her. She cast Blizzard twice, defeating it. A blue Fire card came out of, which Heather added to her deck. She got up and cast Fire on a Powerwild and then stabbed it with her Keyblade, defeating it. She turned around and came face to face with another Powerwild, claws out. She ducked under it, then got back up and stabbed it with her Keyblade. She ran up and hit it a couple more times, defeating it. Out of it came a blue card with a photo of Space Ghost on it.

"Ugh. You've got to be kidding me." Said Heather, examining the card and being transported back to the room. "How long before I have the pleasure of forgetting about him?"

Heather decided to take the door to the left since she did not want to climb. She flashed the Space Ghost card and walked through the door. She was in another part of the jungle, with a campfire in the middle. Space Ghost was there, sitting.

"Hello!" he greeted. "Welcome to Space Ghost's card shop! What would you like today?"

"Did you say card shop?" queried Heather.

"Yes, customer! Because this is a shop for card," awkward silence, "When you shop for cards, because cards are shoppable," more awkward silence, "The cycle of cards"

"I got it!" Heather crossed her arms and remembered why she hated the masked 'superhero'/salesman so much.

"You happen to be famous," he continued, "I have a talk-show where we interview people, who are famous."

"Not interested!" Heather said, sucking her teeth. "Will you show me you cards or what?"

"Cards! Where did Moltar put the cards? Oh," he looked to the ground, "There they are!" he replied. Heather discretely palmed her face. "Could I interest you in this pack of five attack card?" He flashed her 5 cards bound up in a nice bow. "Only 5 munny!"

"I don't have any munny." Said Heather, crossing her arms.

"Oh...well no cards for you, cheater!" Said Space Ghost, putting them away.

"Cheater?" she said, sounding offended, she knew how to cheat and was about to show him what cheating means, "Usually I'd feel bad for what I'm about to do, but you're an illusion so…" said Heather hitting Space Ghost with her Keyblade sending him flying back to a tree. She took the cards and added them to her deck. She also saw a room card near the campfire, it was red and had a photo of a Shadow on it. Heather grabbed it and looked around for a door, but couldn't see any.

"Hey, where's the door?" asked Heather.

"The door…is the one you entered from." Said a barely conscious Space Ghost. "This is….a dead end…"

"Ugh…useless." Said Heather, walking through the door. She was back in the distorted room, and climbed the small cliff and flashed her card. The door opened and she was in another part of the jungle. There was a door up ahead with a crown on it.

She saw a Shadow on the ground and hit it with her Keyblade. In a flash, she was surrounded by four Shadows and two Powerwilds. The Powerwilds charged at Heather, who simply hit them back, dueling with them. One of the Powerwilds jumped on her Keyblade and held onto it. Heather hit her Keyblade against a tree, crushing the Powerwild between the two. She turned around and saw a Shadow jumping at her, so she cast Fire twice, defeating it. She saw a Harold card above her and summoned him, instructing him to take care of the Powerwild. A Shadow jumped up at Heather to scratch her in the face, but Heather jumped back and combined her top three cards (total-22), using the Stun Blade on the Shadows. She defeated one and stunned the others, which she quickly disposed of. Harold disappeared after defeating the Powerwild. Out of the Shadow came a red card. Where the photo was supposed to be, it was pitch black.

Heather was transported back to the distorted room, where she ran up to the only door, avoiding Heartless in the process. She held up both the _Key of Beginnings _and her red room card. Both disappeared in her hand as the door opened, which Heather walked through without hesitation.

Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind Heather, and were all still in the jungle.

"Isn't this where we just were?" asked Harold.

"Oh I don't know." Said Heather, exasperated, "As if this castle wasn't enough of a labyrinth, a jungle has to be added into the mix."

"Do you guys hear something?" asked Goofy, pointing in a certain direction.

The group looked at where he was pointing and saw the house right above them. On the side was a garden hose being used as a tether. The group followed the tether down to see that it was being pulled by two people: A short old man, Carl Frederickson, and a short Asian boy, Russel. Alongside them was a yellow dog.

"Look Mr. Frederickson!" pointed Russel, "More people!"

"OOOH!" yelled the dog, "I see ANOTHER dog!"

"But he's walking!" said Russel, excited. "That's amazing?"

Hearing the excited boy and dog, Goofy slowly began hiding behind his Shield, knowing that the day would come when someone would want to treat him like an everyday dog.

"Huh?" he asked, confused. "Who are you people?"

"I'm Heather, and this is Harold, Donald, and Goofy." She introduced themselves. "We found ourselves in this jungle and we can't seem to find our way out."

"You do realize you're two teenagers, a duck, and a dog, right?" asked Carl.

"We're well aware." Said Harold. "And you're an old man with a kid and a talking dog."

"Touché." Said Carl in a hurry, "Well have a good day."

"Mr. Frederickson, they said they're lost." said Russel to Carl, "Can we let them come with us?"

"Well..." said Carl, eyeing the group and his house.

"The girl has a weapon." said Russel quietly, gesturing towards the Keyblade. "And the dog has a shield! They can help protect us!"

"True." said Carl. He wanted to get to his destination as fast as possible. He eyed the Keyblade before saying out loud, "Alright. You guys seem harmless enough. You're free to come with us if you like."

"Oh well that's nice of you." Said Donald.

"Let's walk and talk," Carl said, "Kind of in a time crunch."

"Where are you guys headed?" asked Goofy.

"We're headed to the-"

"Hi!" said the dog, interrupting Carl. "My name is Dug. I just met you and I love you. That's Russel and Mr. Frederickson."

"Oh well that's nice to know." Said Heather, barely listening to Dug, who went up to Goofy and was playful with him, due to his also being a dog. "No I don't play fetch!" said Goofy, faintly enough for everyone to hear.

"Where did you say you were going again?" said Heather, disregarding Goofy.

"To the falls." Said Carl.

"We're gonna get Mr. Frederickson's memory back!" said Russel.

"Did you lose your memory?" asked Heather. "That's been happening a lot lately."

"Partly." Said Carl. "On one hand, I remember my wife, Ellie. She was the sweetest person I had ever met. I truly loved her. However her time came, and she passed sadly. On the other hand, I slowly forgot things I did with her, and all I can remember is the things I told you."

"So why are you going to the falls?" asked Harold.

"Because I read in a book she gave me before she died. She wrote that her dream was to take her house all the way to the falls here." Said Carl. "I feel like maybe if I can complete her dreams, all of the memories will return to me. And even if I don't get my memories back, at least I can say I honored her memory."

"Awww…that's so sweet." Said Donald.

"We're also losing our memories." Said Heather. "Think that might help restore our memories?" Even though Heather knew it probably wouldn't work, she was desperate to find any means to restore her memories.

"You're all too young to be losing memories. I don't know if it'll work, I mean it's not like my house is magical and will reverse memory loss. It is worth a try though." Said Carl. "Also, you said you were lost. From the falls you can see the entirety of the jungle, so you'll be able to find your way to wherever you're going."

"Though be careful," said Russel, "There are a lot of vicious animals in this jungle! I learned about them in my Wilderness Explorer's manual."

"Sounds like a plan." Said Heather. "I'll scout ahead for any dangers in the jungle, since it doesn't look like any of you can fight, no offense."

"None taken." Said Carl and Russel.

Heather walked ahead, but lights flashed and she was back in a distorted room, all alone.

"Of course." Said Heather. There was only one door in this room, one to her left, near a small stream. In the stream were Shadows, sneaking around the water. A light flashed above Heather and down came the _Key of Guidance._

She walked up to a Shadow and hit it with her Keyblade. Heather soon found herself surrounded by three Shadows and three Bouncywilds. She ran up to a Shadow and hit it with her Keyblade, before getting hit in the face by a bomb. After hitting her square in the head, it fell down to Heather's feet where it exploded, sending her flying back towards a tree. She cast Cure and cast Fire twice at a Bouncywild, defeating it. She ran up to another Bouncywild and cast Blizzard twice, defeating it. She began attacking the Shadows, combining her top three cards (total-14) and hitting the Shadows with the Sliding Dash, defeating all three. She ran up to the Bouncywild and hit it, but the Bouncywild jumped up onto a nearby tree. Heather looked around, hearing the Bouncywild go from tree to tree.

When her back was turned, the Bouncywild jumped onto her, clawing at her back relentlessly. Heather ran back into a tree, thinking to trap the monkey between herself and a tree. However the Bouncywild was smart and jumped off beforehand, leaving Heather to just ram into a tree, hurting her back. She cast Cure again and combined her top three cards (total-22) and defeated the Bouncywild with the Stun Blade. Out of the Heartless came a card with a photo of a Shadow on it.

Heather was back in the distorted room, and walked up to the doorway. She held up the card, and it disappeared as the door opened. As she was so accustomed to, the door released a lot of light as it opened. Heather walked through and was in another part of the jungle. She could swear that it was the exact same part she was in however she saw two doors: One with a crown and one without. She walked up to the door with a crown, but a Bouncywild jumped down from a tree on her shoulders and began playing with her wig.

"GET OFF OF ME!" she cried, throwing it off. In a moment she was facing the Bouncywild, plus two others.

She combined her top three cards (total-12) and used the Sliding Dash, going headfirst into one of the Bouncywilds. She cast Fire on it and then raised her Keyblade to attack it once more, but a Bouncywild jumped on her Keyblade and the other on her face. She ripped the Bouncywild off of her face and did the same with the one on her Keyblade. She cast Blizzard at the both of them and then Fire, defeating both. She turned towards the last one and hit it with her Keyblade until it was defeated. Out of it came a blue card with a photo of a treasure chest on it. In a moment Heather was back in the distorted room, and walked up to the door with the crown on it. She double checked to make sure it required the _Key of Guidance_, and sure enough it did. She held up both the Key of _Guidance_ and the card she had received from the battle. They both disintegrated in her hand as the door opened.

She walked through it, and found herself in clearing. Not a big one, but one big enough to allow her to rest. She heard footsteps behind her and saw Carl, Russel, Dug, Harold, Donald, and Goofy coming towards her.

"Thanks for clearing the way, Heather." Said Carl.

"No problem." Said Heather, "Kind of exhausted though."

"Gawrsh, I think we should take a rest." Said Goofy.

Carl looked up at the balloons nervously, but gave in and said, "Well…alright. But five minutes. Ten tops!" He tethered the balloon to a nearby rock.

"Goofy!" yelled Dug. "Let's play!"

"Gawrsh, I already told you that I'm not that kind of dog…" said Goofy.

Heather, Harold, and Donald laughed as they did not know what to expect with Goofy interacting with other dogs.

"So Mr. Frederickson…" began Harold, "What do you remember? We learned that refreshing your memories helps a lot."

"Well not much, but I remember that Ellie and I were in love very much." Said Carl, "And had a common interest in adventure. Our hero was Charles Muntz."

"Who's that?" asked Russel.

"You've never heard of Charles Muntz?" queried Carl, surprised. Everyone just shook their heads slowly (except for Goofy who was still trying to convince Dug that he was not _that_ type of dog). "He was a famous explorer who came here a long time ago! He never came back though, leading to many speculations about what happened to him."

"How did he get here?" asked Heather.

"He has a big dirigible, known as…oh what was the name?" Said Carl, forgetting the name of the airship.

"Uh…Mr. Frederickson?" asked Donald.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Is this dirigible big and grey?" asked Donald.

"Why yes!" said Carl.

"Is it also called the _Spirit of Adventure_?" asked Donald.

"That's it!" said Carl, remembering. "Thank you for reminding me. And here I thought I was the only Charles Muntz fan."

"Donald, how did you know?" asked Heather, barely believing that Donald would know that all of a sudden.

"Well…" said Donald, nervously pointing towards the sky. Up there was the _Spirit of Adventure_ in person.

"Oh…my…goodness." Said Carl, in shock. Heather summoned her Keyblade, not knowing what to expect as it began landing in the clearing. A hatch opened, and out of it came an old man, Charles Muntz.

"Well that's a coincidence." Said Russel.

"Um…excuse me." Said Muntz. "But I couldn't help but notice your lovely…flying house!"

"Oh…why thank you!" said Carl. "I made it myself!" he looked down, twiddling his fingers "Well not the house just the ability to fly. Well technically I did build it but not by myself, I think. I'm sorry I'm just very nervous meeting you. My name is Carl Frederickson and I'm a huge fan!"

"Always a pleasure!" said Muntz. "Not common I see people around this part. Or maybe I do. I don't know, as I have recently lost my memory."

"Isn't everyone?" whispered Heather, to Donald and Harold.

"Really? Me too!" said Carl. "That's why I'm here."

"Well why don't we sit down and talk about it?" said Muntz. "Been a while since I've talked to someone."

"Really? It's such an honor!" said Carl.

The two, who were quickly becoming friends, sat down to talk about their memory losses and their love of adventure. Goofy was missing the entire ordeal because he was still being bugged by Dug, and Russel joined in on the fun. Russel and Dug were both trying to convince Goofy to play with them, but Goofy wouldn't budge. Heather was looking at Carl and Muntz with Harold and Goofy.

"It may just be me, but I don't have a good feeling about this guy." Said Heather. "It's as if my memory is trying to tell me something, but can't. Like a warning or something."

"Maybe your memory is lying to you." Said Harold.

"Yeah, remember what that gypsy said back in Nowhere!" said Donald.

"What would that be?" asked Heather. The three began thinking, but none could remember.

"Ugh! When I said that I wouldn't care about losing insignificant memories, I didn't mean things like this!" said Heather. "What that gypsy said could have come in handy!"

"Well maybe Muntz is a good guy." said Donald. "From the looks of it he's really friendly!"

"Let's go see what they're talking about." Suggested Harold. "Maybe we'll get some answers." The three walked over and sat down, joining in on the middle of the conversation.

"So I took my house here with the intent of completing her dream." Said Carl, explaining his reasoning. "I figured maybe that's what'll get my memory back. Though seeing you here is an honor! I may not remember my time with Ellie, but I sure remember what you did."

"You remember my achievements?" asked Muntz, "Because I don't."

"You were my hero!" cried Carl. Carl began telling Muntz all of the things Muntz had done that inspired him that remained in his memory. The more he said, the more confused Muntz appeared.

"I did that stuff?" asked Muntz, barely believing. "I don' remember any of it! Wait…how do you remember things I don't."

"Well you lost your memory." Said Heather. "It's natural that other people remember things. Just cause you forgot it doesn't mean they did."

"I think something else is in play…" said Muntz, his demeanor becoming more and more wicked. "Can't be a coincidence that the first people I see here remember stuff about me that I don't. You stole my memories!"

"Awww, phooey." Said Donald. "You're just paranoid."

"Am I?" cried Muntz, getting the attention of Goofy, Russel, and Dug. They all rushed over.

"I swear I didn't steal your memories!" said Carl, not wanting to have his childhood hero hate him.

"Stop lying!" said Muntz. "You stole my memories because you wanted to become me! You said it yourself how I'm your hero. Well now I'm gonna steal what you have! If I can't have my memories, no one can!"

Muntz began walking towards the house. "Hey, what are you doing!" said Heather. Everyone ran over to stop him but an invisible force knocked them all away.

"What was that?" said Heather. She saw Muntz picking up the hose tether. She ran over to Muntz, Keyblade in hand, but she was knocked away again by an invisible force. Muntz tied the house to the side of the airship and walked in, the hatch closing as the group looked on in horror.

"Please! Don't do this!" cried Carl. "That's all I have!"

"Nice speaking to you." Said Muntz, as the hatch closed. "Have a good afternoon." The hatch closed fully and the dirigible began taking off, heading towards the falls.

"We still have time!" pointed out Russel. "They're headed towards the falls!"

Carl fell on the ground, holding back tears.

"Oh it's no use." Said Carl. "We'll never get there in time. My childhood hero just took away the only chance I had of remembering my wife."

"It'll be a cold day in hell when I let that happen." Said Heather. "I'll catch up to him, you guys just get there at your own pace."

Heather ran in the direction of the airship as Harold, Donald, and Goofy ran alongside her.

"You guys know you're gonna disappear, right?" asked Heather. The others just shrugged it off.

"That's never stopped us before." Said Harold.

"Well it's never been a problem before this castle." Said Goofy. The three disappeared after a light flashed, leaving Heather in the distorted room she was in before, despite her running in the opposite direction she entered through.

"Ugh…the creator of this castle needs to learn a little thing called logic." Said Heather. A light flashed above her, revealing the _Key to Truth_. It came down and Heather got it, putting it away. She looked at the other door in the room, which didn't have a crown. She saw a Shadow and hit it on the head with her Keyblade.

In the blink of an eye Heather was surrounded by two Shadows and four Powerwilds. She summoned Wolverine, who sprung into action, stabbing and defeating the two Shadows with his claws. He moved with the precision of the wolf he was named after, and did not even wait for Heather to give him instructions. After he disappeared, Heather cast Fire at a Powerwild and then hit it with her Keyblade, defeating it.

She turned around and ran towards another one, but slipped on a banana peel. She cursed under her breath and saw a Powerwild jumping right over her. Her wig turned red as she cast Fire and then blue as she cast Blizzard twice, defeating it. She stood up and went to another Powerwild and hit it with her Keyblade, sending it back towards a tree. Heather ran up to it and stabbed it, defeating it. She looked for the last Powerwild but could not find it. She heard a screech from up above and saw a Heartless monkey coming at her from the trees. It latched onto her head and began pulling Heather's wig. The Powerwild would not let go, and Heather saw a Harold card she desperately summoned.

"Harold!" cried Heather as the Powerwild was at the point of tearing her wig. "Get it off of me!"

Harold threw his num-yos at it, tying it up and making it land on the ground. He then took his num-yos and began hitting it with his nunchakus, defeating it. Out of it came a red card with a photo of a Shadow on it, which Heather took as Harold disappeared.

She was returned to the distorted room and walked up to the door, where she held up the card. The card disappeared as the door opened, and Heather walked through. On the other side, she was still in the forest, but the sound of a Waterfall could be heard louder than ever before.

"Guess that means I'm getting closer." Analyzed Heather. There was a door with a crown on it up ahead, which Heather ran to. On the way she saw a Shadow, and hit it with her Keyblade.

In the blink of an eye she was surrounded by four Shadows and two Powerwilds. She ran up to the Powerwilds first and cast Blizzard on their feet, holding them in the ground. Heather smiled, having stopped them from going crazy as she was so used to. They struggled to get off, so Heather cast fire at each of their heads and then swung her Keyblade, defeating them. She was scratched in the leg and looked down to see a Shadow. She hit it with her Keyblade, defeating it. She ran up to the remaining Shadows and combined her top three cards total-22) and used the Stun Blade, defeating one of the Shadows and stunning the others. In their current state, Heather easily finished them off. Out of one of the Shadows came a red card that was pitch black where the picture should be.

Back in the jungle, Heather ran up to the door and flashed both the card she had just received and the _Key to Truth_. The door opened and Heather dashed through it.


	11. Up to the Jungle, pt 2

Once through the door, Heather was no longer in the jungle, but in the falls. Behind her Harold, Donald, Goofy, Dug, Carl, and Russel ran to her.

"Where is my house?" asked Carl.

"Up there." Said Russel, pointing up. The Spirit of Adventure was right above them, with the house still tethered to it. It landed and the hatch opened, revealing Muntz.

"How did you get here before I did?" asked Muntz.

"Because no one steals my house!" said Carl.

"Boy, never thought you'd hear that, would ya Donald." Said Harold to Donald, snickering.

"Well it's too late." Said Muntz, untethering Carl's house. "You stole my memories and now you'll pay the price by losing whatever memories you have left!" He pushed the house off the falls, leaving it floating over the cliff with only the balloons keeping it afloat, though the tether was still on the ground (unattended).

"No!" cried Carl.

"You are a sick, twisted, paranoid old man!" said Heather, getting her Keyblade. Muntz grabbed his shotgun and shot a couple balloons, the house falling a few inches. Carl was at the point of tears - the only connection he had left to his wife was almost gone. Heather, Harold, Donald, and Goofy summoned their weapons and raced towards Muntz, until the same invisible force from earlier sent them back.

"Oh no, not that again." said Donald.

"What is that?" asked Heather. The invisible force materialized into a green Heartless resembling a chameleon. It was the Stealth Sneak.

"I'll take care of the overgrow lizard." Said Heather. "You all focus on Muntz."

Heather didn't look back but was hoping that every nodded in approval of her plan.

"Well alright." Said Goofy, "But if you need us you know how to call us."

Heather couldn't reply as a barrier surrounded Heather and the Stealth Sneak, everything outside of it disappearing. The Stealth Sneak turned invisible again, leaving Heather there wondering where it was. She heard footsteps behind her and swung her Keyblade, hitting the Heartless, the impact turning the chameleon Heartless visible again. Its eyes glowed and shot lasers at Heather. She blocked one laser with her Keyblade but the other one hit her in the waist, hurting her. The Stealth Sneak jumped up and landed behind Heather, the impact shaking the ground and unbalancing Heather. It kicked its hind legs at Heather, who was sent flying forward and slammed the floor.

Heather cast Cure and stood up, scanning the area for the Heartless. She couldn't see anything as it had turned invisible once more. She hear a sound, and out of thin air she felt squashed under something huge, falling to the ground with the air taken out of her. The invisible Stealth Sneak had jumped on top of her. She saw two glowing things above her head, and recognized them as the eyes. With what little energy she had left, she cast Fire twice, once at each eye. It stood up on its hind legs, its paws to its eyes in pain. Heather used her High Potion card and cast Blizzard twice. The damage made the Stealth Sneak visible once more.

Heather ran up to it and hit it with her Keyblade a couple times. Is stomped its paws, but Heather jumped up onto its back. She combined her top three cards (total-22) and used the Stun Impact, hurting it in its back tremendously. The Stealth Sneak threw Heather off of its back, sending her flying towards a tree. Even though it was hit by the Stun Impact, it didn't feel the effect it was supposed to induce. Heather used Cure and summoned Wolverine, who immediately rushed towards the Stealth Sneak, claws out, and scratched it penetrating the skin. The Stealth Sneak's eyes glowed and shot lasers at Wolverine, who was sent flying back but had disappeared before he could hit a tree.

The Stealth Sneak turned around only to be hit in the eyes by two Blizzards. Its vision was blurry, and its eyes were injured, but it could see that the one who cast the Blizzards was a white and blue figure, who disappeared (Donald). Heather ran up and hit the Stealth Sneak when it was down, and kept attacking until she ran out of attack cards. The weakened Stealth Sneak turned invisible with what little energy it had left and jumped to the other side of the area. Heather closed her eyes, to re-summon her attack cards, but was kicked back by the invisible Stealth Sneak's legs.

She summoned Woody, who came down, but didn't know where to attack as the target was invisible. Heather was still trying to reload her deck, but her concentration kept getting broken by the invisible Stealth Sneak. It didn't help that whenever Woody saw Heather getting attacked, he flew down only to hit the ground. Woody disappeared, not having been able to do anything. Heather couldn't do anything. Every time she tried to reload her deck, she got hit by an invisible force, breaking that concentration. She didn't have cards to heal, and was getting weaker by the second.

"A miracle…" said Heather, gasping for air, "Would really come in handy right now. Ah!" she was hit again, sent flying towards the far side of the invisible barrier. The miracle she asked for seemed to appear. A Goofy card appeared on the other end of the field, an apparent harmless run. Heather took off, moving from side to side, to avoid any attack that might spring up on her. She was almost at the card, but heard a noise and saw two glowing eyes on top of the card.

"No!" she cried. Lasers were shot form the eyes, leaving Heather to instinctively duck. She saw the card was in place below the invisible Stealth Sneak. She crawled as fast as possible and summoned the card. Goofy came out, the force of his appearance enough to send the Stealth Sneak back, damaging it for the first time in a while and turning it visible.

"Goofy! Attack!" said Heather. Goofy complied and used the Tornado technique, spinning rapidly and trapping the Stealth Sneak between himself and a tree, the Stealth Sneak getting more and more damaged every second. Goofy disappeared, giving the Stealth Sneak a break. When it looked down, it saw a fireball coming right at it, knocking it on its back. Heather cast the Bushwick card and jumped up, in the process combining her top three cards (total-22) and using the Stun Impact, hitting the Stealth Sneak right in the belly with such a force that it disintegrated upon impact, a heart coming out of the dark remains.

Heather cast Cure and walked up to a black card with a photo of the Stealth Sneak on it, left where the Heartless once stood. The text read, "_Blocks an attack without fail._" Heather added it to her deck (even though she was sure she wouldn't use it).

Soon the barrier around the battlefield disappeared and everyone reappeared. Heather saw Carl battling Muntz through the window of the house, Carl wielding his cane and Muntz a sword. Heather ran up to her friends.

"What's happening?" asked Heather.

"What does it look like?" replied Harold, sarcastically. Heather raised her eyebrows as she'd never seen Harold use sarcasm. She wasn't insulted, but a little impressed.

"Well how did they get there?" asked Heather.

"Mr. Frederickson climbed up on the tether because he didn't want to lose his house." said Goofy.

"You mean he's risking his life just for that house?" asked Heather, dumbfounded.

"Do you think we should help?" asked Donald.

"No." said Heather, "This is his battle, as unneeded as it is."

The two kept fighting throughout the house, which was still floating in mid air. They eventually reached the living room, Where Muntz put his sword up against the fireplace, where all of the balloons were tied.

"No!" cried Carl.

"Return my memories!" said Muntz.

"I don't have them!" said Carl.

"Well you just spelled death of you and your memories." Said Muntz, measuring how to cut all of the balloons in one swing. "Any last words?" he turned around to see that Carl was running towards the door. There was a large gap between the falls and the House.

"Mr. Frederickson!" cried Russel, with concern for his friend and mentor. "Jump!"

"But my house!" cried Carl. "My memories!"

"Alright Carl, time for the truth." Said Heather, addressing him by his first name. "This would never have brought your memories back, that was wishful thinking. There's no way you'd know how to regain your memories. The only thing you can do is accept that your memories are gone!"

"But Ellie!" cried Carl.

"You don't need to remember what you did together, that didn't make the love that you two shared!" said Heather. "It doesn't matter if you remember the things you did or not, all that matters is that you remember you two were in love. Completing her dream will honor her memory but it won't bring back your memories."

"I…I…" said Carl, confused about what to do.

"Mr. Frederickson, Jump!" cried Russel.

"Jump, Master!" Dug cried.

The old man turned around to see Muntz coming angrily with his sword, and he jumped on an impulse. He was a foot away from the falls, but barely missed it and began falling down to the ground. He closed his eyes but felt a hand. He looked up to see Heather, pulling him up. He got on the ground and just sat down, his entire opinion shaken up.

"You saved me." Said Carl. "I owe you my life."

"A lot of people do." Said Heather, with a smug smile.

"Oh no you don't!" said Muntz, who was about to jump off the falls. Carl reached for the shotgun and shot the balloons as fast as possible. The house began descending pretty fast, and Muntz didn't notice the elevation change. He jumped off at the wrong time, missing the cliff entirely, plummeting to his death, yelling out "No!" as he fell. The house also began descending down, though not as fast as Muntz.

"I'm sorry Mr. Frederickson." Said Harold, watching the house descend slowly.

"Know what?" said Carl, "It's just a house."

"Um Mr. Frederickson, how are we gonna get home?" asked Russel.

Carl looked up at the _Spirit of Adventure_, and replied, smiling, "With that. It's time to start making new memories."

Heather couldn't help but smile at this happy ending. Harold, Donald, and Goofy walked up to her.

"Heather," said Donald, "Did you hear your words when you were talking to Mr. Frederickson?"

"Yup." Said Heather. "And yes, I think it's time we accepted that our memories are gonna disappear. We can't save them, so we should just not be too hung up on the fact that they disappear, and just keep moving on. I have a feeling that if we conquer this castle, our memories will reappear. I can deal with having them temporarily gone."

"That's the spirit Heather!" said Goofy, while Donald and Harold nodded in approval.

"Awww…that's so sweet bro." said a voice. They turned to see Geoff in his cowboy hat walking towards them. "Gotta love a happy ending."

"Geoff?" asked Harold. "Where have you been?"

"Oh just chilling in the jungle." He replied. "Crazy world there. Animals sure know how to party. I saw what you did there Heather, really sweet."

"Thank you." Said Heather. "You sound surprised."

"Well considering what you've done in the past I never would have expected that." Said Geoff.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Heather. "I've already told Beth this, I made up with everyone!"

"Everyone except _her_." Said Geoff, getting a confused look from Heather. "Did you seriously forget about _her_? Not cool gurl, not cool…Guess I was wrong about you. If you need me I'll be partying in that blimp. BLIMP PART-AY!"

Heather stood there, jaw open in shock. "Why does everyone say this? Who are they talking about?"

"Maybe you forgot about somebody." Said Harold. "Remember, keep moving…on?"

Heather shot him a death glare, contradicting her earlier statement. "Whatever. At this point. I'll just stop caring. Come on, let's go." However in her mind an image flashed of her earlier flashback, where she was with a girl she didn't recognize.

"Leaving already?" asked Carl, walking up to the group. "We could give you a ride if you wanted."

"Oh no that's fine." Said Heather, snapping out of her thoughts. "I know how to continue on anyways. Goodbye!" Everyone else said their goodbyes (though to Goofy's annoyance, Dug wouldn't let go of his leg, crying). Heather walked a step and lights flashed. She was in a room in what she assumed was the _Spirit of Adventure. _In front of her stood a very high ladder. She groaned and began climbing. Once she got to the top, she saw a doorway filled with light.

She walked through and entered the Floor 4 Exit Hall. Heather walked towards the stairs at the end of the hall, as her friends reappeared behind her. As she walked her head was filled with thoughts. The person that all of her Total Drama cast mates keep mentioning can't be unrelated to that person Heather saw in her mind.

"Ugh, who is this person?" asked Heather to herself. "It wasn't Beth cause she was already eliminated and Lindsay was also there, so who was it? Who else was in my alliance? Maybe…was her name-"

"Heather?" asked Goofy.

"What?" asked Heather, not happy to be interrupted.

"Gawrsh…just wanted to see if you're alright…" said Goofy.

"Sorry, it's just that I was close to figuring out who that girl that everyone keeps mentioning is." Said Heather. "It was on the tip of my tongue."

"Well I'm sure that if you're close to remembering her then you'll remember in no time!" said Donald.

"I had a flashback and I saw that she was on the Island, I just can't remember who she is." Said Heather. "Harold, do you remember?"

"No." said Harold, shaking his head. "But if I do remember I'll tell you."

"Guess it'll come back to me eventually." said Heather.

"That's the spirit!" said Donald. "Now come on! In case you forgot, we've got to find Leshawna and the King!"

Meanwhile, back in the white room, the girl was still alone, looking through her camera. Her bright clothing was a stark contrast to the white tone of the big room. Eventually one familiar photo came up on the camera: the Total Drama Island group photo taken at the dock on the first day. The girl smiled after finally having found it, and pressed a button. She set the camera on a table and went up to a wall and smiled.

The camera clicked on its own and flashed, taking a photo of her, from her green flip flops all the way to her oversized headphones on her orange ponytail. She went back to the camera and examined the photo of herself. She pressed another button, and out came a photo from the camera. It was a copy of the Total Drama Island group photo, but the girl was there smiling, between Heather and Geoff and above Gwen, in the same pose she was in when she took a photo of herself.

"I remember now!" said Heather loudly, startling everyone. The group had just entered the Floor 5 Entrance Hall. Heather had stopped to think for a couple seconds more while Harold, Donald, and Goofy continued on to the door. After Heather's discovery, they stopped and turned around to face Heather.

"You remember the girl?" asked Donald.

"Yeah." Said Heather. "It was another girl in my alliance. Harold, do you remember?"

"Yeah I do!" said Harold happily, however his smile turned into a scared demeanor. "Yeah….I do…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Heather, confused with why Harold would be scared.

"Just wondering Heather, how much about her do you remember?" asked Harold.

"Not much." Said Heather, "Just that she was in my alliance and for some reason I forgot about her. I don't even remember her name. Why do you ask?"

"Oh…no reason…" said Harold. Unlike Heather, he remembered a lot more than Heather did about this girl. However, he did not want to tell her most of the things and would let her figure it out for herself for his own reasons.

"Don't worry." Said Donald. "You'll remember more as we keep going."

"Isn't it the opposite?" asked Heather, "The more we go, the more we forget?"

"Well there's only one way to find out." Said Goofy, gesturing towards the door. However everyone summoned their weapons immediately upon looking in the direction Goofy was pointing. Goofy, who didn't even look at the door, didn't know why their weapons were summoned.

"What's going on?" asked Goofy. He turned to see something that wasn't there before.

"Why don't you just fight her yourself?" asked Jonesy. He was in the same room in the castle with the crystal ball, spying on Heather with Julie.

"Sshoon Jonesshy, sshoon…" said Julie, still with a lisp and spit coming out as she talked. Jonesy winced as most of it landed on him. He knew however he did not want to anger Julie, so she said nothing. "I'll tessht her eventually, but not yet. At leassht not until we know more about her."

"Isn't it a little early though to test out our little captive on her?" asked Jonesy.

"What'ssh the point of having her if we don't put her to good usshe." Said Julie. "Thissh way we tessht both her and the Keyblade wielder. It wasshn't even my idea. He told me to do it."

"Alright, but even if he did tell you to do it, _ju_-ust don't let you-know-who find out that we're playing with his toy without his permission." Said Jonesy. "You know how angry he gets."

"I wouldn't worry about him." Said Julie. "He issh bussshy with ssshomethign elsshe right now."

The two looked in the crystal ball, to see how their little experiment would fare out.

"Who are you?" asked Heather, deadpan. Across from them stood a robotic like figure. It was mainly white, with one pink orb where the head would be, acting as an eye. The body was in the shape of an oval, making the head look attached to the rest of the body. There were pink stripes everywhere. It had two armored legs and two arms, all with more mobility than the torso. On its right hand it held a wrecking ball about twice the size of Heather's head. It was attached to a chain which connected to the right wrist of the armor.

"I said, who are you?" asked Heather, to the non-responding figure.

"Looks kind of like ATLAS from Portalia 2." Said Harold, admiring the robotic-like figure more than regarding it as actual threat. Heather slapped Harold in the back of his head, to which Harold replied with a "Gosh!"

The figure threw its wrecking ball up in the air and began spinning it around and around. She slowly let more and more chain lose from her armor, and controlled it by grabbing it with her right hand. The figure threw the wrecking ball straight at Heather, who tried to block with her Keyblade but was overpowered by how powerful it was, and was sent back until she hit something hard. She opened her eyes to see she was no long in the Castle, but the same platform she fought Jonesy on. She was hit against an invisible barrier surrounding the platform. Harold, Donald, and Goofy had disappeared. Heather cast Cure and got back up.

"So that's how you want it?" asked Heather. "Bring it on!" Heather ran up to the figure and swung her Keyblade at it, but the figure simply held up the chain with both hands and blocked with that. Heather kept attacking, but was too focused on breaking the figure's guard to notice something going on below her. The wrecking ball was dangling as its chain was being used to guard. Whether it was the figure or the armor on it who had to strength to carry that heavy ball was unknown. While the figure kept its iron-clad defense going, it slowly let more and more chain loose between Heather's hits. When the ball was an inch from the ground, the figure kicked it with her foot, coming up and hitting Heather straight in the chest and the jaw and knocking the wind out of her, sending her up flying only to fall back down hard hurting her more.

Heather struggled to get up, and when she did, she cast Cure. She ran up to hit the figure, but was stopped before she could bring the Keyblade down. She looked at the chain on her Keyblade to see that she had run out of attack cards trying to hurt the figure.

"No!" cried Heather, not happy to see this. For her this was the worst possible time. She looked at the figure and was punched right in the face by the figure's left hand. She slid a little bit to the left, but was then hit in the waist by the wrecking ball. Heather was sent flying towards the barrier, falling and injured.

"How…the hell…do I fight…this thing…" said Heather, gasping. She stood up (though struggling due to the immense pain she was in) and used her High-Potion, restoring most of her energy and healing most of her wounds. She saw the figure advancing as fast it could at her, wrecking ball in hand. Heather ran towards the incoming figure and ducked under its arm, coming out behind the figure and casting Fire twice. The figure turned around with the magic only annoying it, having no effect due the armor.

Heather slowly backed up as the figure threw its ball up and down, catching with its right hand repeatedly. The figure walked towards Heather slowly, taunting her with its strength. She saw a Harold card to her right, and the figure noticed her seeing it. Heather ran towards it, only for the card to be hit by the wrecking ball and being sent out of the platform, disappearing.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Heather. "I can't even use my friends now? Wait!"

Out of ideas, Heather summoned Wolverine, who jumped at the figure claws first. His claws hit the figures armor, but did nothing. The armor was too strong. Wolverine kept trying to penetrate the armor, but to no effect. The figure just stood there unfazed, until Wolverine disappeared. Even though Wolverine couldn't do anything, he did buy Heather time to reload her deck.

"Alright you robotic piece of crap." Said Heather, now knowing how to deal with this enemy. "I don't know what you are but you're going down."

The figure just stood there, nonresponsive and unfazed by Heather's taunts. She simply pulled her arm back and threw the wrecking ball straight at Heather. Heather simply ducked under the ball and ran to the figure, hitting it with her Keyblade. The figure flinched while being hit with the Keyblade, but still had the power to yank the chain, sending the wrecking ball back. Heather was too busy attacking to notice, and felt a tremendous pain in her back a she was hit by the wrecking ball. She was crushed between the ball and the robotic armor of the figure. She felt more pain in her cheek as she was punched again by the figure, being sent to the ground. She looked up to see the figure holding the wrecking ball with two hands, preparing to crush Heather's head with it. Heather couldn't move as her hip was held in place by the two feet of the figure. Running out of ideas, Heather kicked the figure in its back making it stumble a little bit, giving Heather the opportunity to escape the figure's grasp and get up and attack. The figure threw the ball at Heather, who was able to dodge. Once again the figure yanked the chain, pulling it back, but Heather was prepared. She saw the chain being pulled back, and turned around to see the wrecking ball coming right at her. She waited a moment and then moved to the side. Not having enough time to stop it, the wrecking ball hit its own owner, and the figure was sent flying back due to the force.

"There's only one way to defeat a robotic freak like you." Said Heather. She cast the Bushwick card and combined her top three cards (total-20) performing the Stun Impact on the figure while it was down. She brought the Keyblade down on it and it was injured, though with an unusual side effect. Rather than fall unconscious temporarily, a surge of electricity ran through the figure, knocking it unconscious for much longer than usual. Heather and the figure were returned to the castle, where Harold, Donald, and Goofy ran up to Heather.

"Uh…I think I killed it." said Heather. A surge of electricity went through the figure, and it twitched a little bit. "Nevermind." she said.

"What do we do now?" asked Harold.

"We look inside to see what it is." Said Heather, walking up to the figure. A dark portal appeared underneath, which the figure fell through. "Dammit." said Heather.

"That was weird." said Harold.

"Whatever that was, it was really powerful." said Heather. "If my timing was off by a second I would have perished."

"It's a good thing you're alive, ahyuck!" said Goofy.

"No use staying here anymore." said Donald, "Come on, let's go."

"Alright, but for the record I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the last of that thing." Said Heather. The four of them walked towards the doors at the end of the hall. Heather took out a card form her pocket: Far, Far, Away. She held out the card and it disappeared as the door opened. Heather walked through, her mind still on the battle she just had and the girl she seemed to suddenly remember.

"Well now we have to fix our prisoner slash soldier." Said Jonesy. "Who knows how long that'll take."

"Well what did you expect?" asked Julie. "This was jussht a tessht. We didn't even sshe the armor to work at full power. Thissh issh all a part of the plan. We wanted to tessht the Keyblade Wielder and we did."

"I still don't think one test is enough." Said Jonesy. "If there's one thing I've learned from observing-"

"You mean sshtalking?" said Julie, interrupting Jonesy.

"No, observing." Said Jonesy, annoyed. "If there's one thing I've learned from observing Heather it's that she's crafty. We're going to have to test her a lot more. Everywhere she goes she learns something new. We're gonna have to know everything about her and see how she responds to different types of enemies and different situations."

"Well what do you have in mind?" asked Julie.

Jonesy just smiled wickedly, not in a perverted way but in a vicious way.

* * *

**A.N.:** One thing I didn't like in KH:CoM was that there were too much fights against Riku Replica and so in this fic there will be less and against other enemies rather than The Prisoner. Comments are appreciated.


	12. Until Forgetfulness Separate Them, pt 1

**A.N.: **Ckelef1 apologizes for the delay, due to college, but we're back in the tracks now!

* * *

**Floor 5- Far, Far, Away**

Heather and co. walked through, and immediately smelled something repulsive in the air, making them instinctively cover their noses in disgust.

"Ugh what is that?" Heather asked, looking around.

"What do you expect? We're in a swamp." Harold replied, noticing their surroundings.

"Have we been here before?" Donald. "You'd think that you'd remember this smell.

"If we have I don't remember it." Goofy said, "But gawrsh it does smell kinda rotten."

"Since we don't remember it I'm just gonna go with the theory that we've been here before but the memories were erased." Heather said. "Now let's hurry up and get through this floor, because after each floor I get more and more memories of that girl and I want answers."

"HELP!" yelled a voice

"I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE." yelled another, piercing the air.

"Already someone's in trouble?" Heather said. "Does know one but us know how to defend themselves?"

"Heather I know you wanna get through as soon as possible but, we should help." Goofy said.

"Ugh fine, let's go." Heather said.

"It was over there, through the trees." Donald said, pointing. The four ran through the trees and arrived in a small glen, near a hut. A giant green ogre and a Donkey were surrounded by Shadows. Heather recognized them as Shrek and Donkey and thus she and her friends ran in the middle of the Heartless and got into battle positions.

"Mind if we help?" Harold said.

"Oh thank you! I thought we were gonna die!" said Shrek.

"Run into the house. NOW" commanded Heather. Shrek and Donkey made a run for it and made it due to the Shadows being fixated on the Keyblade. A light flashed and Harold, Donald, and Goofy were gone.

The battle started. The Shadows made their move, with one jumping towards Heather. She cast Blizzard and turned around and hit a Shadow with her Keyblade. A Shadow crept up on her and scratched her leg, to which she stabbed it. She jumped, avoiding another Shadow scratching her, and ran to the edge, where she combined the top three cards in her deck and performed the Sliding Dash. She hit all five Shadows, and defeated two. A Shadow jumped up at her and she cast Fire at it, defeating it. She turned around and hit another Shadow until it was defeated, and finished off the last one with a Blizzard. She smiled, but turned around and saw four Knight Heartless and two Yellow Operas, with two Green Requiems to heal.

"Are you kidding me?!" yelled Heather, who saw a Donald card with the corner of her eye. She ran to it, avoiding a lightning bolt and summoned Donald.

"WAK" cried Donald, being summoned out of nowhere.

"DUCK! MAGIC! NOW!" Heather said, being too into the fight to form grammatically correct sentences. Knowing about how dangerous it is when Heartless heal, Donald cast Fire at the Green Requiems, each being defeated by a single hit. Donald cast Blizzard at the Yellow Operas, damaging them, before disappearing.

In the meantime, Heather was fighting off the Knights, and got them in a line following her. She turned around and combined her top three cards, intending to use the Sliding Dash to hurt all three at once. However, instead something else happened. Heather combined the last three cards with high values, totaling twenty-five. Instead of sliding, She hurled the Keyblade rapidly, defeating all three at once, before the Keyblade returned to her like a boomerang hitting both Yellow Operas, defeating them. She had just performed the Strike Raid.

"Now THAT is powerful. Why does doing that feel so familiar though.." Heather queried. She didn't have much time to ponder as another wave of Heartless came. Air Soldiers and one burly fire-breathing Fat Knight. Heather cast Cure and summoned all the cards back. She felt a surge of power when her cards reappeared but she also felt intense burns, opening her eyes to having the Fat Knight breathing fire at her. She Cast both her Blizzards, freezing its mouth, before casting Cure on herself and hitting it multiple times. The armor was hard, and the ice on its mouth was melting quickly, and the two Air Soldiers were circling ready to attack any minute.

"I need a way to penetrate that armor." Heather said. "Wait that's it!"

She summoned Wolverine who came down and immediately began hacking and slashing at the Fat Knight with his adamantium claws until it disintegrated, at which point it disappeared.

Meanwhile Heather cast Fire at the wings of the Air Soldiers, sending them hurtling down without their ability to fly. She saw a green card with Harold's face and ran to it as the two Heartless plummeted. Heather summoned it, and Harold jumped out and, without even questioning the situation, immediately rushed towards an Air Soldier and hit it with his nunchakus until it disappeared. Heather combined her top three cards and used the Stun Impact on the other one, also defeating it. Donald and Goofy reappeared besides Heather and Harold, with the Heartless menace finally gone. Shrek opened his door, and walked outside cautiously with Donkey.

"That was exhausting. The Heartless just kept coming!" Heather said.

"But did you ever doubt you were gonna win?" Donald said, knowing just how to talk to Heather.

"Ugh No!" Heather said, smiling a bit. Shrek and Donkey walked up to them.

"Thank you for helping us. You saved my ass!" Shrek said.

"Literally and figuratively." Harold said, looking down at Donkey.

"Hey! I am a certified, specialfied TALKING Donkey and I demand respect! Tell them Shrek!" said Donkey.

Shrek just said nothing before Donkey looked down shamefully.

"Now come on we have to get going." Shrek said. "Thank you kindly for your help."

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Goofy asked.

"A castle so Shrek can find his true love!" Donkey said.

"Donkey!" Shrek said.

"Awww that's so romantic." Donald said.

"It's more complicated than that but we must be off." Shrek said.

"You're not gonna get far, especially with Heartless everywhere." Said Harold.

"He's right. We'll go with you if you'd like." Heather said.

"Awww that's real sweet of you to volunteer Heather!" Goofy said.

"I'm only doing this because, from experience, there's always something we have to do to get to the next floor and I don't see a billboard advertising an adventure. This is the best bet." Heather said. "So how about it, our protection? It's free."

"Well….Okay but hurry up. Let's go, the castle is this way through this field." Shrek said.

A light shone above and the _Key of Beginnings_ came down to Heather, who grabbed it, before a light shone placing her into a distorted room, alone. The room looked like it was in the middle of a swamp, with trees everywhere. There was only one other door in the room, to the right. Shadows lurked about. Heather, knowing the drill, walked up to one and hit it on the head with her Keyblade. In a flash, she was looking at two Shadows, two Knights, a Green Requiem and a Yellow Opera. The Heartless were stunned, so Heather seized the opportunity by casting Fire twice at the Green Requiem, until it was defeated. The Heartless all awoke, while simultaneously a Goofy card came down from above, landing between Heather and the Knights.. Heather raced towards it, as the Knights raced towards her. She grabbed it and ducked, avoiding their swords. Goofy jumped out, sending back both Knights. He looked around and analyzed the situation. He looked at Heather and they exchanged nods before getting up, both knowing what to do. Goofy went towards the Shadows and used his tornado technique, damaging both greatly to the point where they were defeated. He threw his shield at the Yellow Opera, defeating it, then disappeared.

Heather clashed blades with one knight while one stabbed her in the back. She turned around only to be hit by the Knight she was clashing blades with, having lost her guard. She jumped back as both approached her. She summoned Woody who flew down and began pecking at one of the Knights. Meanwhile Heather began recharging her cards, and instinctively ducked as a blade flew over her, knowing that the Knight would use that time to attack her. She got up and cast Blizzard, freezing it in its place, then began slashing at it until it was defeated. She charged towards the other Knight and swung her Keyblade hard at its sword, knocking it out of its hand. She then cast Fire and stabbed it, defeating it. Out of the Knight came a room card with a photo of a Shadow on it.

She walked up to the door and flashed the room card, walking through the door as it opened up. She was in another distorted room, that looked as though it was in the middle of a field. There were two doors, on to the right and one to the left. The one on the left had a crown on the door, signifying it was where Heather needed to go. She walked up to it, but felt a scratch on her ankle. She looked down to see a Shadow, as a light flashed and she was surrounded by two Shadows, three Green Requiems, and three Yellow Operas.

"You have got to be kidding me." Heather said, annoyed with the amount of magic-based Heartless. All three Yellow Operas shone and down came three thunderbolts consecutively. The first two missed Heather but the third hit her, sending a shockwave through her. She screamed and jumped back as the Shadows approached her. She combined the top three cards in her deck and performed the Strike Raid, sending the Keyblade at a Green Requiem, defeating it. Another Green Requiem was caught in the path of the Keyblade as it was coming back, and was hit and also defeated. Heather cast Fire at the last one twice, defeating it. The three Yellow Operas once again glowed, but Heather zig-zagged running towards them, dodging the thunderbolts. She jumped up and hit one of the Yellow Operas, sending it down. She slammed it with her Keyblade, defeating it. She turned around and cast Blizzard once at each yellow Opera, freezing them. Heather hit them both with her Keyblade until they were defeated. She turned around was hit in the face by a Shadow and scratched in the leg by the other. She hit both, sending them back, then ran up and finished them off. A Fat Knight appeared in front of her, as did a Harold card simultaneously. Heather ran towards the card, avoiding the fire breath of the Fat Knight, and summoned Harold.

"Harold, I need to re-charge my deck. Take care of it!" Heather said.

"Face the power of my nunchakus!" Harold yelled, running towards it with his nunchakus. However he saw that its armor was too powerful for his nunchakus to do any damage. He simply smiled as the Fat Knight punched him, sending him high and making him disappear. The Fat Knight turned and was met with two Blizzards in the face. Heather had cured herself and re-charged her deck. She ran up and combined her top three cards, performing the Stun Impact. The force of her hit was powerful enough for her Keyblade to pierce the armor, stunning the Fat Knight. Heather continued attacking it until it was defeated. Out of it came a room card: a green one with a Keyblade on it.

Heather was teleported back to the distorted room where she walked up to the door with the crown. She took out both her newly-gained room card and the _Key of Beginnings._ Both disappeared in her hand as the door flashed and opened up. Heather walked through and was in a field no different from the distorted room. She heard footsteps and saw Shrek, Donkey, Harold, Donald, and Goofy coming.

"The coast looks clear." Heather remarked.

"The castle is that way." Pointed Shrek. "It's just not within view yet."

"So looks like we've got quite a ways to go." Said Goofy.

"But I'm already tired!" said Donkey.

"Well too bad, we're kind of in a rush." Shrek said.

"You know Shrek," Harold said, "You never really told us what you actually need to do. You just said you need to find true love at the castle."

"Yeah, do you need to rescue a princess or something?" Donald said.

"That must be some princess to fall in love with an Ogre." Heather quietly remarked.

"It's my true love, princess Fiona. I already rescued her from a castle and we fell in love." Shrek said.

"Awww." Said everyone except Heather.

"I love her because she's also an ogre, but she's also a human." Shrek said. "Farquaad was disgusted by her when she was in ogre form, but realized that by taking away her memories of me via curse she would turn back into the human form he so vainly loves."

"Farquaad?" asked Donald.

"The king of that castle we're going to." Answered Donkey.

"We came back to my home in the swamp, Lord Farquaad kidnapped her, taking her memories of me with it. Now they're going to get married and I need to stop him." Shrek said.

"Well don't worry Shrek, we'll help you all the way." Harold said.

"You really seem to love her." Goofy said.

"Well it's not everyday you meet someone who can look past your exterior and see how you truly are on the inside." Shrek said.

Hearing that, Heather immediately thought of DJ, and smiled.

"One of the few memories that I think will be impossible to forget." Heather said. "So basically we get to that castle, crash the wedding, and take down Farquaad? How do you suggest Fiona get her memories back?"

"The curse says true loves kiss will make her into true loves form." Shrek said.

"So rather than kissing the ogre to become a beautiful girl, you kiss a beautiful girl to become an ogre." Donald said, snickering.

"HEY SHE IS A BEAUTIFUL GIRL NO MATTER WHAT!" Shrek said angrily, scaring Harold.

"Nice going Donald." Harold said.

"And I'm going 'cause I'm Shrek's best friend, mighty steed, and trusty sidekick." Donkey said.

"What have you done that's sidekick-ish?" Shrek asked, not agreeing with what Donkey thought.

Donkey thought for a second, mouth open ready to speak, but could form no words as he had nothing to say. "Whatever let's just get to the castle."

"Well if it isn't my favorite team of losers." Said a voice from behind. Everyone turned around and saw a familiar green-haired punk, Duncan.

"Duncan?" Heather, Harold, Donald, and Goofy all said.

"Oh, hey Heather, hey Doris, and hey Donald and Goofy." Duncan said. He turned towards Shrek "I see you found new friends fitting of your personality."

Harold turned towards Donkey and got a little irritated by Duncan's comment.

"Yeah, yeah, I know I did something, heard it all before." Heather said, tiring of everyone ganging up on her for something she could not remember. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just chillin' over there when I heard familiar voices. I remembered I had a bone to pick with you Heather." Duncan said, slightly angry.

"Can we save this for later? We have to get to the castle quickly." Donald said.

"He has a point, just give me the whole speech later." Heather said. "If not for me, then for them."

Duncan turned towards Shrek and Donkey and sighed, "Fine. But I'm coming along."

"Be our guest." Heather.

"Says the beauty to the beast." Harold says, snickering, to which Heather slapped him on the head.

"I think I see the castle starting to pop-up on the horizon." Goofy commented.

"Almost there." Heather said. A light flashed above her and down came a _Key of Guidance._ She looked around and was back in the distorted room. She walked up to a Shadow and hit it with her Keyblade. In front of her were now three Shadows, two Knights, and a Fat Knight, all stunned. She took a step, meaning to fight one of the Heartless, but a green card caught her eye to her right. She ran to it, picked it up, and saw something surprising. It was neither Harold, Donald, nor Goofy, but rather Duncan.

"Well that's new." Heather said, summoning him. Duncan appeared with an angry look on his face.

"What." He said sternly.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe attack!" she said, pointing to the now-awake Heartless moving closer to them. Duncan ran to the knights and began slashing his sword at them, as they blocked. He jumped over one and put his sword through two, skewering them and defeating them. He then disappeared. Heather Meanwhile was fighting the Shadows, but didn't notice the Fat Knight jumping up from behind and hitting her with its belly, sending her down to the ground. The Fat Knight used the opportunity to breathe fire at Heather, who was wincing at the pain and trying to roll out of harms way. She used Cure and cast Blizzard twice at the Fat Knight, freezing its mouth. She could hear the Shadows coming up from behind so she combined her top three cards and used the Strike Raid, with both being defeated by the blow. She turned around and began hitting the head of the Fat Knight until it was down on the ground. She jumped up, combined her top three cards, and used…the Sliding Dash? She went right past the Fat Knight and hit the ground, hard.

"Dammit, guess I should memorize my deck better." Said Heather. She turned and saw the Fat Knight getting up. Heather used her Hi-Potion card and hit it from behind until it was defeated.

Heather smiled in victory and looked around for the room card, but was hit by a thunderbolt. She turned around to see a Yellow Opera and two Air Soldiers. Heather saw that she was out of cards so she ran around avoiding thunderbolts, recharging her deck. She finally got a moment's peace and felt all her cards return to her. She cast Fire at the Air Soldiers, but only one of the hits connected. The Air Soldier came plummeting down and Heather jabbed it in the back, defeating it. Heather heard a Thunderbolt and swiftly moved out of the way. She cast Blizzard at the Yellow Opera, then hit it twice, defeating it. Heather case Blizzard at the other Air Soldier, hitting its wings. It went spiraling down the ground, and Heather hit it with her Keyblade as if she was a baseball player and the Heartless was the ball. It was sent high up, disappearing in the process. Down from it, there was a room card that was all black in the icon.

Heather was returned to the distorted room where she maneuvered past the Heartless and went up to the door. She flashed her card and it opened, putting her in another distorted room equal to the one she was in. There were two doors, one up ahead and one to the right. The one on the right had a crown on it. She saw a Yellow Opera in the air and hit it with her Keyblade.

Soon she was in front of not one but three Yellow Operas, as well as three Knights directly below them. Heather cast Blizzard on two of the Yellow Operas, sending them down straight to the Knights, waking them up but at the same time damaging them. Heather saw a Donald Card and ran for it. A Knight jumped up at her, angrily trying to get revenge. Heather hit it hard with her Sword, defeating it and she summoned Donald.

Donald saw the Yellow Operas and did the same thing Heather did, casting Blizzard at two of them. Coincidently it was the same ones that Heather had already cast Blizzard on, and due to them being weakened by being frozen, they were defeated.

"Wow my magic must be getting stronger again." Donald said proudly, having defeated them in "one" hit. Donald disappeared while Heather was dealing with the two Knights. She combined her top three cards and used the Sliding Dash, defeating one (the one previously hit by the frozen Yellow Opera) and damaging another one. Heather sharply turned around and hit the other Knight with her Keyblade, defeating it. Simultaneously, she felt a surge of thunder go down her, having been hit by the last Yellow Operas attack.

She turned around and jumped up high, slamming it down with her Keyblade defeating it. Out of it came a room card, red with a photo of a Large Body on it.

Heather was teleported back to the distorted room. She walked up to the door with the crown on it and flashed both her _Key of Guidance_ and room card. As usual, both disappeared and she walked through the door.

She was back in the field, but the castle was just up ahead. Everyone reappeared around her.

"There it is." Heather said.

"Bigger than I'd have pictured." Harold said.

"Well the King is a real ham, he wouldn't spare any expense." Shrek said.

"So what's the plan again?" Duncan asked.

"We go in, get Fiona, and get out." Heather said.

"Sounds good to me." Duncan said. "Not gonna' lie Heather, I'm a little surprised that you'd be so willing to help."

Heather didn't pay attention, already knowing the direction the conversation was going in.

"Duncan I already told you, save it for later." Heather said.

"Gee I wonder why Heather doesn't just ask Duncan for who the identity of the girl is, if he knows." Goofy queried.

"I think it's better Heather find out herself…" Harold said ominously.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you remembered a lot about her." Goofy said. "I still don't see why you can't say anything."

"Just believe me Goofy, the later Heather remembers, the better." Harold said.

"Hey what's that over there?" asked Donkey, as everyone turned to see a figure on a horse approaching. It rode up to them and revealed itself to be a short man dressed in red.

"Farquaad!" Shrek yelled in disgust. "Great now I can bash your brains in right here."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you ogre." Farquaad said. "The curse I put Fiona under makes it so that if I perish, all her memories of you perish with me." Farquaad smiled wickedly at the group.

"Just what are you doing here, don't you have a wedding?" Heather asked.

"I knew that Shrek would come to save his princess, so I wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen by stopping you dead in your tracks and leaving you a little present. He snapped his fingers and down came five Knight Heartless, surrounding the group.

"Have a good time, and I do apologize that you couldn't make it to the wedding Shrek." Farquaad said, laughing wickedly.

"Is this the best he has at his disposal?" Heather asked.

"A Heartless is a Heartless no matter how powerful." Donald said.

"Shrek, Donkey, you guys should get out of here." Goofy said. Shrek nodded and grabbed Donkey, jumping over the Heartless in front of him. He ran over to a nearby hill to hide, while everyone was still surrounded by the Heartless. Soon Harold, Duncan, Donald, and Goofy all disappeared, leaving Heather alone.

She ran up to a Knight and began attacking it, but was attacked from behind by another Knight. She cast Blizzard on both, then attacked the one behind her, defeating both Heartless. She saw a Goofy card and ran up to it, avoiding the blade of a Knight. Goofy came out, throwing his shield at one of the Knights like a boomerang, damaging it. He ran up to the two knights and hit them both with shield, sending them up. Heather ran up to Goofy and he launched her up. She hit both Heartless with her Keyblade, sending them back down to Goofy who slammed them with his shield, defeating both. Heather cast fire at the last Knight as Goofy disappeared.

Heather turned around and saw a Fat Knight and three Yellow Operas. Heather cast Blizzard at the two Yellow Operas like last time, sending them hurtling down at the Fat Knight. One hit directly on its head, knocking it out. Heather ran up and began hitting it until it was defeated. Heather jumped up to hit a yellow Opera, but couldn't as she was out of cards. She ran away from the Heartless to recharge her cards. After Heather felt her cards returned, she was hit by one thunderbolt, but that had the power of three. She yelled in pain, and cast Cure. Heather combined her top three cards and used the Strike Raid, defeating two of the Yellow Operas. She ran up to the last one and slammed it with her Keyblade, defeating it. Out of it came a room card with a picture of a Shadow on it.

Shrek and Donkey ran up to Heather as Harold, Donald, Duncan, and Goofy reappeared. Before they could converse, the sounds of bells were heard.

"Those were wedding bells!" said Donkey.

"We have to get to the castle now!" Shrek said, running towards it, as everyone followed. Heather just stood there, knowing that at any moment a _Key to Truth_ would come down to her, and she would be teleported to a distorted room.

"The sooner the better." Heather said, thinking of adopting it as her motto. Exactly what she thought would happen did happen, and she was back in the distorted room that had the appearance of the field.


	13. Until Forgetfulness Separate Them, pt 2

Heather was back in the distorted room, but she knew that she had to get to the final room of the floor fast to stop the wedding. She jumped over Shadows to avoid them and ran to the other door in the room, flashing the room card she received from the previous battle. She stepped through and was in another distorted room, with only one other door up ahead that had a crown on it. Just like the past rooms, this one had the appearance of a field. However behind the door was the castle, in all its grandeur.

"Even if it is an illusion it's still a wonder they can make it look like there's a castle within a castle." Heather thought to herself.

She saw roaming Yellow Operas, and wanting to get the room over with, hit one with her Keyblade. In the blink of an eye Heather was in front of three Yellow Operas and a Knight. Heather cast Blizzard twice on a yellow Opera and Fire twice on another, defeating both. She ran up to the Knight and hit it with her Keyblade until it was defeated, but was hit by a thunderbolt created by the last Yellow Opera. She jumped up and hit it with her Keyblade three times, defeating it. When she came back down to the ground, a Fat Knight and three Shadows appeared behind Heather. She noticed a green card below her and summoned Duncan.

"Alright want me to take care of the Owen wannabe?" Duncan asked.

"No that one's mine. You take care of the Shadows." Heather asked, to which Duncan gave her a confused look not knowing Heartless had names. "Go for the others on the field!"

"You don't have to yell at me like I'm her, geez…" Duncan said, alluding to the girl everyone has brought up. Luckily Heather was too into the battle to notice. Duncan began swiping his sword at the Shadows while Heather combined her top three cards and used the Strike Raid, hitting the Fat Knight in the head, doing major damage. The Fat Knight retaliated by breathing fire but Heather directly blocked with her Keyblade, then hit the Fat Knight twice more in the head, defeating it. Heather turned around and saw a flash of light in which Duncan disappeared, having defeated the Shadows. Out of it came a card with a picture of Space Ghost on it.

"I have never been happier to not have to use a card." Heather said about the card, being transported back to the distorted room. She walked up to the final door and held up both the Space Ghost card and her _Key to Truth._ Both cards disappeared in her hand as she walked through the door, into the castle. Heather waited in the castle lobby for everyone to reappear, which they did within seconds.

"Time to save the princess!" Donkey said, excited.

"And get revenge on 'his majesty'." Shrek said.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Duncan said. "So let me get this straight: we go in, kick the king's ass, and get out?"

"Well it's not just about defeating Farquaad so much as saving Fiona." Goofy replied.

"Still though, we just go straight for Farquaad." Heather said.

"But wait, Farquaad is a coward!" Shrek said. "He might hide behind Fiona so there wouldn't be anything we can do!"

"He has a point." Donald says. "If that were to happen then we would be in a pretty tough position, and it would be wise to think through every possibility."

Heather thought for a couple seconds while everyone debated amongst each-other what to do. Harold suggested that Shrek sing to Fiona until she remembers, Donkey suggested charging in so that Farquaad wouldn't have time to hide, and Duncan suggested just executing Farquaad without having the well-being of Fiona in mind.

"Everyone shut up!" Heather yelled, getting everyone's attention. "Alright here's the plan. Farquaad expects us all to burst through the doors, and that probably WOULD give him enough time to hide behind Fiona. However, instead Shrek is going to appear from the side, from a balcony. "

"How do you know there's a balcony?" said Harold.

"It's a castle! There are always balconies!" Heather retaliated. "Anyways, while we distract Farquaad, you go behind his back, kiss Fiona, and live happily ever after while we deal with Farquaad. He'll be too distracted by us to notice, and if you're by Fiona then you can make sure he doesn't hide behind her."

"Got it." Duncan said.

"Alright time to-" began Donkey, before everyone heard a faint voice.

"We are gathered here today to….."

"That's the ceremony! We need to get going!" said Shrek, as he started running off in search of a balcony.

"Shrek, don't make a move until we burst in, remember!" said Heather, as Shrek nodded from afar. The group began running toward the castle chapel. Being the most un-athletic, Harold was in the back.

"So Harold, how doesn't Heather feel bad for how she treated her?" Duncan asked Harold, having slowed down to match Harold's pace.

"She doesn't remember." Said Harold. "Well she remembers bits and pieces but not the whole."

"Do you remember?" asked Duncan.

"Yeah, I do. But I feel it would be best for Heather to find out by herself." Harold replied. "And you'd be wise to do the same. Believe me, when she remembers it'll be like a hurricane."

"Well she deserves it." Duncan said. "What she did was horrible and you know it."

"But that was in the past and we need to move on from the past!" Harold said, debating with Duncan.

"There is no moving on if she doesn't acknowledge it." Duncan said.

"Pretty big words coming from you." Harold said, earning a death glare from Duncan.

"What are you guys talking about?" Heather asked, having heard the last part of the conversation.

"About how-"

"About how Fiona will need to look back on this so she can truly admire Shrek." Harold said, interrupting Duncan. Heather looked suspicious but turned around and continued running. "Duncan, no saying anything, at least until after we rescue Fiona."

Duncan raised an eyebrow, showing he was a little surprised at Harold being so stern with him, but he agreed nonetheless. The group finally arrived outside the chapel doors. They were closed for the most part but Heather peered through a small crack in the door and was able to sky Shrek on a balcony to the right.

"Well what do you know, there is a balcony." Heather said to herself.

Shrek was trying to hide, but he was so large that he couldn't be missed. Luckily (and oddly) enough, there was no one at the wedding except for Farquaad, Fiona, and a Wolf who was marrying them.

"Alright, Shrek is in position. One…two…three!" Heather said, as they busted through the doors.

"You!" shouted Farquaad angrily, as Fiona looked on with confusion. However Farquaad noted that Shrek wasn't with them, but rather he was on the edge of the balcony ready to jump down. "What's this? Has Shrek given up on his precious Fiona? Well that's never going to-"

"Aaaaah!" shouted Shrek, tripping on the edge and falling flat on his face.

"Shrek!" everyone yelled (minus Heather).

"Well that went according to plan." Noted Heather, sarcastically.

"Ogre!" Farquaad shouted angry. He began walking up to Shrek but Fiona rushed over to him.

"Poor man!" Fiona cried, "Are you alright?"

"I am now." Shrek said, in Fiona's arms.

"Oh now that is just the sweetest thing ever." Duncan said, getting weird stares from everyone. "What?"

"You look so familiar…" Fiona said. "Almost as if-"

"No!" Farquaad yelled. "FIONA IS MINE! MINE MINE MINE!"

"But she doesn't love you, she loves Shrek." Heather said. "You can take away her memories but there will always be remnants of him in her heart powerful enough to keep her love there!"

"Awww Heather that's so sweet." Donald said.

"Well, I learned that when I became a Heartless, dammit!" Heather said, or better, spat. "Suppose you can say I'm speaking from experience."

"Well then if I can't have her, NOBODY CAN!" yelled Farquaad. Heather ran towards Farquaad with her Keyblade in hand. Farquaad saw, and took a red potion out and drank it. As he smiled wickedly, he was shrouded in a red mist, and, after the mist dissipated, he transformed into a giant king crab.

"Shrek! Get Fiona to a safe place!" Heather commanded. Shrek nodded and took Fiona in her hands, moving her to a safe place as Donkey and the wolf followed. Harold, Duncan, Donald, and Goofy got behind Heather, weapons in hand.

"I feel like we've fought this before." Donald commented.

"We probably have but I just don't remember." Heather said.

The crab raised its right pincer and slammed it down, aiming for Heather. Everyone disappeared around Heather as she jumped at the last minute, unfortunately getting her foot caught under it. She screamed in pain and slowly got up. She cast Cure but as soon as her foot felt better she was hit by the left pincer and slammed against the wall.

"Hah!" laughed the crab, "Thought you could defeat a king did you?" He was raising his pincers and appeared to be laughing, exposing his belly a bit. Heather coughed and, still on the ground, cast Fire at the belly. The crab screamed in pain as Heather ran towards the crab, Keyblade in hand. She tried to attack again but the crab grabbed the Keyblade between its pincers and held Heather up to its eyes.

"How dare you!" the crab yelled. Heather simply kicked the crab in the eyes making it scream in pain. She jumped down and attempted to attack the belly again but the crab angrily slammed a pincer down on Heather, who barely jumped out of the way.

"This is impossible when he's only focused on me." Heather said. As if an answer to her prayers, a Goofy card appeared….underneath the crab's belly. Heather got an idea and summoned Woody, who came down and began pecking at the crab's shell. Woody didn't do any damage but did distract the crab long enough for Heather to slip underneath and summon Goofy, who popped out shield-first with such a force that the Crab was sent up and landed on the other side of the chapel, upside-down.

"Goofy I need a launching pad." Heather said. Goofy nodded and bent over. Heather ran and jumped on his back, jumping over to the crab and combined her top three cards as well as activating the Bushwick card, resulting in a very powerful Stun Impact. The crab screamed in pain as it flipped over and brought his pincer down on Heather, who jumped out of the way. The crab tried to again but was hit in the eyes by Goofy's shield. He turned and tried to bring his pincer down on Goofy but he disappeared right before he could be hit.

The crab was now fuming, and raised his right pincer. Static began to surround it and he brought it down on Heather. She jumped out of the way but was still shocked by excess static that went everywhere once the pincer slammed on the ground. He grabbed Heather between his pincer while she was down and slowly began crushing her so that she would feel every ounce of pain. His grip was so tight that she couldn't even move her arm, and therefore Keyblade. She was too busy in pain to be able to think of a plan. The crab could completely crush her at any minute.

* * *

"Well thissh issh an interesshting twissht." Julie said, looking at the battle from the crystal ball alongside Jonesy.

"This _would_ be an interesting twist, not being killed by an Organization member but rather by a figment of her memory." Jonesy said.

"And sshomethign that we can't let happen." Julie said. "We sshtill need her for our plan and sshe wouldn't be any usshe to ussh dead."

"But if she's not strong enough to kill a freaking crab then she isn't as much help as we thought." Jonesy said.

"Well it'ssh like you sshaid, sshe workssh better with her friendssh." Julie said.

"True." Jonesy said, placing a finger on the crystal ball and dragging it around, as if moving something. "Alright, I'll allow her to summon the duck."

"That sshounds reasshonable." Julie said. "By the way, did you ever call them? It wassh your idea to usshe them to tessht Heather."

"Oh yeah huh…I was supposed to do that. Was kind of my idea…" Jonesy said, laughing, as Julie gave him a death glare. He began running out of the room "I'm on it."

* * *

Heather was wincing in pain, out of ideas. Every second her bones were being crushed more and more and they wouldn't last much longer.

"I could really use a miracle right now." Heather said, grinding her teeth in pain. Suddenly a Donald card appeared in front of her face. She didn't know if she could summon it without her Keyblade but she didn't care. She bit the card and mumbled Donald's name. Suddenly Donald came out and cast Fire at the Crabs eyes, making it drop Heather who finally took a breath.

"Looks like asking for a miracle really works." Heather said.

"And you said you could handle yourself without us." Donald said, smirking. He cast Cure on Heather and disappeared. Angry, the crab brought a static-filled pincer down again, but this time Heather didn't move. She waited for it to be near her and she hit it full-on with her Keyblade, with such a force that it cracked the pincer. The crab jumped up and down in pain, and Heather seized the opportunity to combine her top three cards and use the Sliding Dash, right under his belly. Under there she hit the crab until she ran out of cards. The crab was in so much pain it could barely stand, wobbling around on its many legs. Heather ran to the other side of the chapel and closed her eyes, re-summoning her cards without the worry of being hit. She felt a surge of power when her cards returned, but she found a little surprise when she opened her eyes. She tried to move but couldn't. She looked down at her feet to see odd goo there, acting as a super-glue and keeping her on the ground.

"What…is this?!" she cried. She looked up to see the crab spitting more goo everywhere, to ensure she couldn't move. The crab stood there, charging up static in its pincer. However in order to do so it was raised on a couple legs, and its belly was exposed.

"I can attack with magic but I don't have much, and it's not powerful enough to do significant damage." Heather said to herself, trying to formulate a strategy. "Wait…I wonder if the magic is more powerful if I combine it."

The crab rapidly began approaching Heather, pincers ready to attack.

"Guess there's only one way to find out." Heather said, combining two Fire cards with an attack card. She pointed her Keyblade and out came a fireball bigger than a regular one, a Fira spell. It grazed underneath the crab, stopping it dead in its tracks. He screamed and jumped up and down, exposing his belly. Heather combined her two Blizzard cards in the same light and used a Blizzara spell, which froze the entirety of its belly. The crab screamed in pain again as Heather combined her top three cards once more, using the Strike Raid. She used it with such force that her Keyblade cracked the ice on its belly and went _through_ the crab. The crab stopped moving and fell down, defeated. The carcass of the deceased King Crab slowly disappeared, as did all the goo on the floor. In the place of the crab was a black card with a photo of Farquaad on it. Heather walked over to it as everyone reappeared behind her. She picked the card up and read the text.

"_Stops enemies from blocking your attacks for 3 minutes_."

"That could come in handy, I suppose." Heather said, adding it to her deck. She turned around to face everyone.

"We rescued Fiona AND defeated Farquaad!" Donkey said, excited.

"And best of all, Heather referred to me as a miracle." Donald said, smiling.

"Well what can I say, people say crazy things when they're about to die." Heather said. "Doesn't make it true."

"I am incredibly confused." Fiona said.

"You won't be for long." Shrek said, kissing Fiona. A magical aura surrounded her as she slowly became an ogre, taking on the form of true love. Everyone smiled and awed, even Heather.

"Shrek!" Fiona exclaimed.

"Fiona!" Shrek repeated. "You remember!"

"How could I forget?" Fiona said as Shrek laughed.

"What a happy ending!" Said Goofy. "Oh, and Heather, about what you said back there about not being able to forget love…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Heather said. "I shouldn't worry about forgetting the people I love because they'll always remain there. I know, I know. As of recently I appear to have gained a habit of giving myself very good advice."

"You just seldom follow it." Harold said, snickering, to which Heather slapped his head. "Gosh!"

"Speaking of which Heather…" Duncan began, remembering what his goal was when Heather slapped Harold.

"Fine, hit me with your best shot." Heather said. "Tell me how horrible of a person I am for some reason I have yet to know but desperately want to find out. In fact, tell me what I did. Tell me what monstrosity I have committed. If you do it would help dramatically."

"Really?" Duncan said. "Well then no. For what you did to her, you deserve to be tortured and find out on your own. You were right Harold." Duncan began leaving, no longer having a purpose to stay.

"Wait, Harold?" Heather said, looking at Harold who was smiling awkwardly. "Harold do you know something? Have you been hiding something from me?"

"No….Why would you think that?" Harold said. Heather slowly began walking up to him Keyblade in hand.

"Oh look a potion!" said Harold, looking at a blue potion on the ground, trying to find a distraction.

"Must have been leftover from Farquaad." Goofy said.

Donkey ran up to it and examined it before contemplating something. He reached down, opened the potion with his hooves and began drinking it.

"Donkey what are you doing?!" Shrek yelled.

"What?" Donkey asked. "I wanna be a dragon! Is that so wrong? The red one made him into a giant crab I just wanna be big!"

However, instead of becoming big, a card appeared next to Donkey. It was blue and had his face on it.

"That's it?!" asked Donkey, as Heather went over to add the card to her deck.

"I see no problem with that." Heather said. Better a small Donkey card than a huge Donkey. I think you're a handful in your current size."

Everyone laughed at Heather's comment as Donkey looked down shamefully.

"Well we best be off." Heather said, beginning the exchange of goodbyes. She walked a step and was no longer in the chapel. She was in a tower of the castle, facing a big ladder.

"Of course." Heather said, not enjoying the massive amount of energy she would have to exert to climb the ladder. She made it to the top and walked through a door, arriving at the exit of the fifth floor exit hall. She walked forward as Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind her.

"Alright Harold." Heather said turning around and stopping dead in her tracks. "Spill it, what do you know about this girl."

"Heather, I don't know what you're talking about." Harold said, badly trying to hide the info he knows.

"You know plain well what I'm talking about." Heather said, forcefully. "Duncan said that you told him not to tell me. You obviously know more about this than I do so tell me everything."

"Heather, what Harold wants is for you to remember yourself." Goofy said.

"I don't want to remember myself because I can't remember!" Heather cried, "What I want is for Harold to tell me everything!"

"But Heather, look! We're done with the floor which means that you'll remember more stuff by yourself anyways!" Donald said. "Come, see if you remember anything else."

Heather looked at her friends suspiciously before putting a hand on her head to see if she can remember.

"I already told you I don't remember much. Just bits and pieces." Heather said. "All I remember is that she was in my alliance and I don't remember much about her. Wait….she….she was really nice. Nicer than Beth and Lindsay in that not once did she ever talk back to me or stand up to me. She was really patient with me. I also remember that…..OH NO."

Upon saying this, Heather collapsed to her knees, with a look of grief and sadness overcoming her face. Donald and Goofy rushed to help her while Harold stood in place, sad that Heather finally remembers.

"Heather, what happened?!" Goofy asked, worried.

"I….I….I remember everything... I was horrible to her. I manipulated her more than anyone else. I didn't let her leave my alliance at all, and after Beth left the alliance, I didn't allow her to talk to anybody except me. I was the only friend I allowed her to have, but that's it. I wasn't a friend. I was a monster to her. I abused her more than anybody on that show. I forced her to do stuff for me, in the most demanding way possible."

Heather appeared like she could cry at any moment, with all the horrible memories returning to her. Donald and Goofy couldn't do much but stand by and hear of horrible things their friend used to do.

"Well…there must have been something good you did." Donald said, trying to help.

"No, nothing." Heather said. "Bossing her wasn't even the worst part. She had two hobbies, music and photography. I never let her listen to music so that was one hobby that she couldn't do. She had a camera and took photos of everything. She had the intention of making a photo album of the camp, to remember all the 'fun' times. She went in with so much optimism and I took that all away from her. I forced her to take photos of other people to gain an edge in the competition. Worst of all, she was never eliminated, but rather she left because of an injury caused by me. I told her to do something so I didn't have to and she was injured, greatly. I'd rather not say what it is because...it's just hellish. Worst of all she left her camera in the camp for me. She still was convinced I was her friend, because I didn't allow her to have any other friends. And I…I…"

A few tears were now flowing down Heather's cheeks. Donald and Goofy understood why Harold didn't want to tell Heather anything, the memories were destroying her.

"I destroyed her camera." Heather said. "I took it and threw it into the ocean. I even stated that it was worthless to me, just like her, as I threw it. Those were my exact words."

Donald and Goofy gasped at this. Even Jiminy came out of Heather's pocket to give his input.

"Heather that was in the past." Said Jiminy.

"No wonder everyone is angry at me." Heather said, "Now only did I abuse her, but I never apologized to her for it. She didn't qualify for TDA because her injury kept her from even competing in the competition to be a part of it. After her elimination no one saw her again. I never had a chance to make it up to her. I did so much crap to her and I forgot about her. That's the worst part. I don't remember her. After everything I did to her and all the crap she put up with, I didn't even have the decency to remember of her existence. I can't even remember her name!"

"Well in your defense Heather," began Harold, "You probably forgot because it's a repressed memory. After you changed your heart, or perhaps even before, you repressed that memory so, in your mind, you would have made amends with everyone. And it's because you weren't gonna see her again that you repressed the memory. There would be no repercussions. That's also probably why I forgot, because I wanted to greatly believe you were changed. Which you did! Don't think you didn't."

As Donald and Goofy helped up Heather, Jiminy began jumping to get everyone's attention.

"I must point out, Heather keeps remembering things instead of forgetting them." Jiminy said. "Even this repressed memory came back to both her and Harold. It seems to me that forgetting things may be the only way-to reach the memories buried deeper down inside of us. But one thing that makes me wonder is that you remembered this memory way too well, you narrated as it were taken from a book."

"Perhaps the effect was strong enough to this point, ahyuck?" Goofy asked.

"Well…" Heather said, cleaning herself up and re-gaining her composure. "It's like Jonesy said...'Our most precious memories lie so deep in our hearts, that they're out of reach.' All of that stuff about losing being finding and finding being losing…I didn't get it at first but maybe this is what he meant. I mean we're forgetting small memories, but this…dark…memory came up."

"Gawrsh, Heather." Goofy said. "That just means that soon Donald, Jiminy, and I will all start remembering stuff. And Harold might remember stuff about his own past."

"Uh oh….I have a lot of stuff I'd rather not remember." Donald said.

"Well technically if you know that there's something you don't wanna remember, you kind of still remember it." Harold said.

"Shut up Harold." Donald said, wacking Harold on the head with his staff.

"Gosh!" Harold said, to which Heather laughed a mirthless laughter.

"About time someone else picked up that job." Heather joked, trying to lighten up her mood. "And I wouldn't worry. No one has as dark a past as me, so maybe you guys will remember good stuff. For all you know you may have been rich for a time Donald."

"That's true." Donald said, smiling. "And I'll bet it's true! Come on Goofy, we need to forget things faster." He grabbed Goofy and they ran through the hall to the next floor. Harold and Jiminy laughed and even Heather smiled a bit.

"You okay Heather?" Harold asked, as Jiminy went back inside Heather's shorts.

"I will be." Heather said. "I just need time to adjust to having remembered this."

Heather and Harold began walking to the next floor.

* * *

Julie remained watching through the crystal ball, having seen the entire ordeal. She heard footsteps and saw Jonesy walk through the door.

"I put out the call, they'll be here soon." Jonesy said. "What did I miss?"

"Sshe beat the crab." Julie said, "You were right about her friendssh. They truly are her power. Alssho sshe finally remembered."

"And how did she react?" Jonesy asked.

"Sshurprisshingly sshe cried." Julie said. "I sshupposshe that sshe wassh more affected than we had originally thought sshe would be. No matter to ussh, though. Sshorry you misshed the waterworkssh though."

"I'm not." Jonesy said. "I've seen more than enough girls cry for this lifetime."

"By ssheen them cry you mean you made them cry, correct?" Julie asked.

"Yup, me and that whole commitment thing...or lack thereof." Jonesy said, as Julie rolled her eyes. "Plus I don't think I'd enjoy seeing our little hero cry as much as you did."

"There'ssh sshomething about popular girlssh crying that makessh me happy." Julie said, sadistically. "But the main point issh, it'ssh working just assh we intended, if not better."

"Well then we'll continue with our plan." Jonesy said. "Until then, let's see how far this group will go. I've been meaning to pay her another visit." Jonesy began walking out the door.

"Oh no, you had your fun on the firssht floor." Julie said, as Jonesy turned around. "I'd sshay it'ssh my turn."

"Ugh, fine." Jonesy said, throwing a blue card to Julie.

"Jussht wondering, what did you tell them anywayssh?" asked Julie, catching the card. "Isshn't it a little dangeroussh to have them so closshe to ussh?"

"As far as they know, they're just going to be examining the Keyblade wielder." Jonesy said.

"When we're really jussht condisshioning her..." Julie said, to which Jonesy nodded.

"And once we're done molding Heather to our liking, she will truly be our key to taking over the Organization." Jonesy said.

"You're sshmarter than I thought." Julie said, as she began walking out the door. "Good job keeping it under the hood."

"If only you were wise enough to do the same, Julie." Jonesy said to himself, as an oblivious Julie began walking out the door.

* * *

"So…uh…Heather." Goofy began, as the group had entered the Sixth Floor Entrance hall. "I know that you don't wanna think about it, but…did you remember her name yet? I mean we are on another floor…"

"No…" Heather said, still a little affected by the memory. "In fact, I think that's the only thing I can't remember. Cause I'm just the good person I am…"

"Wak! Come on Heather, It's not your fault!" Donald said.

"He's right, it's not like you can purposely repress a memory." Harold said.

"Yeah!" Donald said, "And I'm sure you'll remember her name in no time!"

"Yeah, I guess you guys are right." Heather said, "Who knows, I'll probably remember it after this floor."

"Ya know," Goofy began, "I may not remember much, but something that I CAN remember is that when the four of us met we had one rule: No frowning, no sad faces."

"He's right. If you're gonna continue on through the castle you can't let that memory distract you." Donald said.

"I remember that rule too, but I never really followed it." Heather said. She looked around at Harold, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy all smiling at her. She began smiling a little too. "Well I guess now is as good a time as any to follow it."

"That's the spirit!" Harold said, running to the door at the end of the hall. "Now come on, we have a castle to conquer!"

Heather smiled and walked to the door, reached into her pocket, and got took out her last card: Atlantica.

"The last card." Heather noted. She raised the card and it disappeared as the door opened.

"I'm so sorry for everything that I've done." Heather thought, as she walked through the door.


	14. Walk to the Bottom, pt 1

**Floor 6-Atlantica**

"Gawrsh!" Goofy noted, once the entire group had entered the next floor. "This looks like the bottom of the sea!"

He was correct, as they were in what looked to be an undersea valley. There was seaweed rising up as if it truly were underwater and weightless. There were clamshells that released bubbles as they opened up. There was no roof or sun, but what looked to be more ocean. Fish were swimming above them and underwater geysers were blowing water every which way. The most curious part of it all was that Heather and her teammates walked on the bottom, breathing normally. They didn't float in the water, instead they remained grounded.

"It sure does." Harold said, adjusting his glasses in disbelief of where they are. "So how come we can breathe? And how come we aren't floating off into the endless abyss?"

Heather held her hand up to slap Harold's head due to him not realizing the obvious, but instead she did something she hadn't done before, she didn't slap him. Instead she just said, "Isn't it obvious? Like Goofy said, it _looks_ like we're underwater. But we're not, we're still in Castle Oblivion."

"So it's an illusion rather than a spell…" Donald said.

"Obviously." Heather said. "The bubbles, the weightlessness of the seaweed, it's all just made to give the appearance of being under the sea, but we aren't."

"Uh Heather…" Donald began, "So are those two mermaids also swimming this way illusions?"

The group looked in the direction Donald was referring to and saw two mermaids swimming their way. The first one had a green tail and long red hair: Ariel. She was holding a trident in her hand and was gesturing at the one behind her to catch up, however she slowed down due to not being able to keep up.

"Hurry up Lindsay!" Ariel said, referring to the blonde behind her, who was indeed the ditzy Lindsay.

"I'm swimming as fast as I can Ariel!" Lindsay said.

Ariel swam by and noticed Heather and Co. looking at her. She swam closer to them and said "If anyone asks, you didn't see me!"

"What?" Donald asked, curious.

"Sorry, I don't have time to explain!" said Ariel.

"Hey, what's that sparkly thingy you got over there?" Goofy asked, gesturing towards the trident. Ariel got a look of fear in her eyes and attempted to hide it by putting it behind her back.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all!" Ariel said, "Just remember, you didn't see me!"

Ariel swam away as the group watched, swimming away faster than anyone they had ever seen.

"Well looked like she was in a hurry." Donald said.

"She was hiding something." Harold said.

"Well that was obvious." Heather said, once again resisting the urge to slap Harold on the head. "She was hiding that trident from us."

"I wonder what it was for." Goofy asked.

They heard something and turned to see an exhausted Lindsay with barely any energy left, trying to catch up to the fast-paced Ariel.

"Ariel!" Lindsay said, "Slow down I can't swim that fast!" She turned to the side to see Heather, Harold, Donald, and Goofy, staring at her.

"Oh, hi Harry!" Lindsay said, getting names wrong as usual. "Hi Doggie! Hi Duckie! Hi….Henrietta!" Noticing Heather, Lindsay's face turned to a mixture of anger and fear, for which she swam away as fast as she could.

"Boy, that Lindsay huh…forgetting our names." Harold said, laughing and trying to lighten the mood to avoid any drama. However, Heather simply looked down, saddened by the fact that now she was aware of why everyone held disdain and contempt for her. And knowing it, she felt it was well deserved.

"Heather, are you alright?" Donald asked, worried.

"Yeah I'm fine." Heather said, putting on a façade to hide her feelings. "My intuition tells me we should follow that girl and Lindsay. I remember her saying that her name was Ariel."

Upon saying that, a light shone above, which materialized into a _Key of Beginnings _that came down to Heather. In the blink of an eye she was alone in a distorted room, where there were still clams releasing bubbles and seaweed. What didn't belong were Sea Neons floating about. Even though Heather was confined to the laws of being in an illusion, the Heartless, and everything else was acting as though it _were_ underwater. Heather looked around and saw a door to her right, and began heading in that direction. However one of them crept up behind her and whacked her on the head with a tentacle.

She turned around and saw she was now in a battle with four Sea Neons and two green lancer Heartless, Screwdrivers. All of the Heartless were floating as if though they were swimming. Circling around Heather like sharks. She jumped up to hit a Screwdriver but it blocked with its lance, leaving Heather exposed in the back, an opportunity that a Sea Neon took up by hitting Heather with its tentacles. She turned around and was hit in the face by another tentacle and stabbed in the back by a Screw Driver. Needing to break away from the mob of Heartless, she summoned Wolverine to come down and attack the Heartless. Unfortunately, he was as confined to the laws of gravity as Heather was, and the Heartless merely floated away. He yelled out of rage before disappearing. Meanwhile Heather, who had escaped and cast Cure, combined her top three cards and used the Strike Raid, defeating two Sea Neons and damaging one Screwdriver. Heather cast Fire at a Screwdriver, but it didn't do much damage to do being "underwater." She ran up and hit the Screwdriver, who was defending with its spear. Heather hit it so hard it knocked the spear out of its hand and stabbed it hard enough to defeat it.

She turned around to see a tentacle coming at her face, but she had enough time to duck and do an upward slash, defeating the Sea Neon. Heather turned and saw a Harold card. She ran for it and summoned it, who came out and saw the two remaining Heartless left. He went for the Sea Neon, dancing around it, confusing it, before head-on slamming it with his nunchakus, defeating it, before disappearing. Heather cast Blizzard at the Screwdrivers lance, and then broke it with her Keyblade. With no defense, she defeated the Screwdriver in a matter of moments. Out of it came a room card, green with a photo of a Keyblade on it.

Heather was transported back to the distorted room, and ran over to the door, avoiding the floating Heartless. She ran to the door and flashed her room card, opening the door and allowing her to proceed to the next room. This one had the appearance of an undersea cavern, with Sea Neons floating about. She saw a door up ahead with a crown on it, as well as a door to the left. Rather than being ambushed once more, she walked up to a Sea Neon and hit it with her Keyblade, initiating a battle against three Sea Neons and three Screwdrivers.

They were stunned, giving Heather a couple seconds to break their formation by combining her top three cards and using the Sliding Dash, damaging all three Screwdrivers and waking them up. She turned around and combined her top three cards again, using the Strike Raid defeating all three Screwdrivers. She looked around but couldn't see the Sea Neons. They snuck up behind her and began hitting her with their tentacles, not giving her a chance to attack. She tried hitting one blindly but the Sea Neon simply floated away as the other two continued attacking Heather to no end. She looked down and saw a Goofy card. She summoned him and he came out shield first, throwing the Sea Neons back a couple feet, Goofy turned towards Heather and they nodded, going separate directions. Goofy threw his shield at a Sea Neon, before reclaiming his shield and jumping on top of the Sea Neon, crushing it under his shield. He threw his shield at another Sea Neon, damaging it, before disappearing. Heather hit one of the Sea Neons, defeating it, before running over to attack the already-weakened Sea Neon hit by Goofy's shield, defeating it. Out of it came a room card, red with a photo of a Shadow on it.

Heather was transported back to the distorted room, where she ran up to the door and flashed both her room card and _Key of Beginnings._ Both disappeared as the door opened, leading Heather into a throne room of sorts. Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared behind her.

"Looks like a throne room." Heather commented. "An empty one at that."

"Oh woe is me…"

"Did you hear that?" asked Donald.

"It came from over near the throne." Harold said, as the group walked up. They saw they weren't alone, there was a red crab on the throne, Sebastian.

"Oh woe is me!" Sebastian repeated.

"Is something wrong?" Harold asked.

"Who are you?" Sebastian asked. "Oh what does it matter, everything is going bad anyways. Someone stole the king's magic trident leaving Atlantica defenseless! And to make matters worse, Princess Ariel has disappeared! King Triton is so worried he hasn't left his chambers."

"Ariel? She disappeared?" Harold asked.

"Yes." Sebastian lamented. "She's been completely missing for days now! Her friend Lindsay would know where she is but she's also gone missing."

"But we just saw Ariel and Lindsay." Heather said to Harold, Donald, and Goofy, but not loud enough for Sebastian to hear in order to respect Ariel's wishes.

"Yep, but she didn't look real happy to see us." Goofy said, "Speaking of which, she was carrying the missing trident when we saw her!"

"That means Ariel stole the trident!" Donald said.

"No wonder she didn't want anyone to know we saw her, she's a little thief." Heather said.

"Ariel! Where did you swim off to this time?" Sebastian lamented to himself, as everyone turned around to listen. "If anything happens to you…the king will think it's all my fault! He told me to keep an eye on her, and now this! What if she ran away because of something I said?! King Triton will banish me forever!"

"Well we obviously can't tell him that the missing princess stole the missing triton or else he'll have a heart attack." Heather said.

"Looks like we have to get it back ourselves then and work everything out." Harold said.

"We seem to be having to do that a lot." Heather noted, as a light appeared above her, revealing itself to be the _Key of Guidance._ She grabbed it and was transported back to the distorted room. She saw a door up ahead and went to it, but was hit in the head by a tentacle of a Sea Neon.

She winced in pain and opened her eyes to see two Sea Neons and four Screwdrivers. The Screwdrivers began circling around her like sharks, and she could see the Sea Neons right above her.

"Not this again." Heather said, casting Fire twice at the Sea Neons above her, before ducking as the four Screwdrivers all stabbed with their spears, but rather stabbing each other without Heather there. She came out from behind and combined her top three cards, using the Strike Raid, defeating all four Screwdrivers. She looked up to see the Sea Neons gone. She turned around and was whacked in the face by a tentacle, only to be sent to the other Sea Neon who did the same. The Sea Neons were playing volleyball with Heather's head as the ball. She swung up her Keyblade and hit one of the Sea Neons before turning around and hitting the other one, defeating it. She cast Blizzard at the other Sea Neon, defeating it. Out of it came a room card that was blue with a photo of a treasure chest on it.

Heather walked over to the other door in the room and flashed the card. She stepped through and was in a small grotto with a treasure chest in the middle. Behind it was another door (with no crown on it). She opened up the treasure chest and inside found three cards: An attack card, a room card, and a blue summon card: looked at the card, noting it's familiarity to her but not being able to recall having met the girl on the card. She equipped the two other cards and walked over to the door, flashing her room card. The door opened and she walked through, into what looked like another small undersea valley. There were two doors to the left and to the right. The one on the right had a crown on it. She turned around and saw a floating Screwdriver that she ran over to and hit with her Keyblade. She turned around and saw three Screwdrivers and three Sea Neons. She started out by summoning Starfire, who was in her possession now.

"I am here now, how can I help you?" said the tamaranian, smiling as always.

"Attack them!" Heather commanded. Starfire nodded and began attacking the Sea Neons, taking them all out before disappearing. The Screwdrivers reawakened and went after Heather. She cast Fire in an attempt to repel them, but they avoided the attacks swimming around the fireballs. They got in a circle around Heather and stabbed her from all sides. She tried to attack one but it floated away and the other two stabbed her due to her letting her guard down. She hit her Keyblade up angrily, but hit nothing. She turned around and was hit by all three Screwdrivers swinging their lances, knocking Heather back down. She cursed under a breath and saw a Donald card that she summoned. Donald cast Fire at a Screwdriver, damaging it, and then Thunder, defeating one Screwdriver and damaging the others. Heather cast Cure and attacked the Screwdriver, swinging her blade so hard it broke the Screwdriver's lance in two. With no defenses left, the Screwdriver was easily defeated by Heather.

She rushed towards the other Screwdriver and jumped up to hit it, but it knocked her back down. She summoned Woody, who came and pecked at the Screwdriver that was desperately trying to block with its lance. While it was busy trying to shoo the bird away, Heather attacked it mercilessly, defeating it. Out of it came a room card: red with a Shadow on it. Heather returned to the distorted room where she rushed towards the door with the crown on it and flashed both her room card and her _Key of Guidance._ Both disappeared in her hand and the door opened.

As Heather walked through, her friends reappeared and they analyzed where they were: in a grotto, with different items everywhere. Chests, gadgets, gizmos, everything. In the grotto also there was Ariel (with the trident) and Lindsay.

"There she is." Heather noted, as everyone looked up.

"Oh Lindsay I shouldn't have taken this trident." Ariel said. "The king is without his weapon and for what? I'm so selfish!"

"So she DID take it." Donald said, a little loud.

"Pipe down!" Goofy said, "Someone's coming!"

"No need to worry child, you did the right thing."

"Who was that?" asked Harold. As if on cue, black smoke appeared and out of it came a big purple half octopus/half woman: Ursula.

"Why, I'm sure you'd do anything in the world to regain your memories." Ursula said.

"And it would be memory-related." Heather said, noting a recurring theme the group has been seeing.

"You poor family, worried about you and not knowing where you are." Ursula said, "And you don't even know who they are or who anyone is."

"Well she knows who I am!" Lindsay said, trying to help.

"But how long will that memory last?" Ursula said. "How many memories does Ariel have left to lose?"

"Please, stop!" Ariel said. "Just please help get me back my memories!"

"Then I need the trident." Ursula said, eyeing the trident in Ariel's hands. She put it behind her back, not knowing what to do.

"But….it's really important to King Triton." Ariel said. "Do you really need it?"

"YES!" Ursula said, angrily. She calmed down and said "Besides, you're not GIVING me the trident, simply letting me borrow it. You can save your memories! Simply give it to me and I'll help you!"

"Can you say suspicious?" Heather commented.

"She doesn't sound that trustworthy." Harold said.

"You think?" Donald said, sarcastically.

"I know, but the king needs the trident to defend Atlantica." Ariel said. "Just let me think for a bit…"

"But Ariel, you don't want to forget about me, do you?!" Lindsay asked, frantically.

"I don't….but-" Ariel said, not knowing what to do.

"Well it's all the same to me." Ursula said. "Remember that all I want to do is help you. You can come see me once you've made up your mind."

Ursula disappeared in black smoke, leaving a morally confused Ariel and an exasperated Lindsay.

"Lindsay, what do I do?" Ariel asked. "I want my memories back. My family could be worried about me. But at the same time I don't want to endanger all of Atlantica! If I give Ursula the trident I'll be selfish and…I just don't know!"

"Oh…Ariel…." Lindsay said, not knowing how to help her friend. Not because she couldn't comprehend the gravity of the situation, but because she genuinely did not know she would do if she were in the same position.

"One thing that that's for sure, you shouldn't trust her." Heather said, coming out of the shadows. Lindsay gasped and got closer to Ariel.

"How long have you been there?" Ariel asked.

"Long enough." Heather said. "And she appears very un-trustworthy."

"Fair share of the pan calling the popcorn grey." Lindsay said, and then scratched her head, "Wait is that what people say?"

"I believe it's a fair share of the pot calling the kettle black." Harold said.

"Thanks Harvey!" Lindsay said. "Don't trust anything she says Ariel!"

Heather simple crossed her arms and looked down with a sad demeanor on her face.

"Guess no matter how much good I do, I can never make up for my past." Heather said.

"Oh, come on Heather, you're overreacting." Goofy said, trying to help.

"And if you're not gonna trust Heather, at least trust us." Harold said, gesturing to himself, Donald, and Goofy. "That octopus-woman doesn't seem trustworthy at all."

"She's a sea-witch that is up to no good." Donald said, "You can see it in her face!"

"Then we all agree." Ariel said, "Only problem is that I don't know anyone else who can return my memories."

"Maybe your memories were stolen." Heather suggested. "We're going through a similar thing so we would know." Everyone nodded towards Heather's statement.

"We can help you get them back!" Harold said.

"But Harold, we don't even know how to get our own memories back, except maybe conquer the castle." Goofy said.

"I have a hunch Ursula has something to do with Ariel's missing memories." Heather said. "You said that she's the only one who can return your memories, so she probably has something to do with how they disappeared."

"She has a point, Lindsay." Ariel said, trying to sway her friend's opinion.

"I guess…" Lindsay said.

"If you want we'll go with you to Ursula." Heather said. "Interrogate her for whatever information she has."

"And that way you wouldn't have to be alone." Donald said.

"Really? You'd do that?!" Ariel asked, excited.

"We know how it feels to lose memories." Heather said. "Even if regaining them isn't the best feeling…..but that doesn't mean that you don't have the right to your memories."

Ariel smiled, happy to have help. Lindsay smiled half-heartedly, not fully trusting of Heather. She bent over and whispered, "Just be careful about trusting her, Ariel."

Heather saw in plain sight Lindsay whispering to Ariel and knew that it was about how trustworthy she was. She simply sighed, now being indifferent to other's opinion. Her own opinion of herself was worse than what anyone else could think. From above came down the _Key to Truth. _She caught it and was transported to the distorted room.

She turned around and saw the door across from her. She also eyed a Sea Neon coming towards her, but Heather hit it with her Keyblade before it could attack.

That one Sea Neon turned into six, that all surrounded Heather.

"They really have made a hobby out of surrounding me." Heather said. She ducked and crawled away from them, knowing that they would try to create a moshpit of which there is no escape. She came out away from them and used the Strike Raid, defeating two Sea Neons. She ran up and attacked another one, defeating it. One snuck up behind her with the intent of hitting her in the head, but instead it hit her wig, and messed it up.

"NO ONE MESSES WITH MY WIG." Heather said, angrily charging at the Sea Neon and defeating it with one blow. She re-adjusted her wig, but was hit from behind by another Sea Neon. She turned around and hit it with a Fira, defeating it. She looked around the area but couldn't see the last Sea Neon, which was crawling at ground level and snuck up behind Heather, hitting her in the rear.

"And then the Heartless got perverted." She muttered, turning around and stabbing the Sea Neon, defeating it. Out of it came a room card that Heather grabbed. She walked over to the door and flashed her room card, opening the door. She walked through and was in an undersea cavern that was like a narrow hallway, with a doorway at the end that had a crown on it. There were Screwdrivers and Sea Neons floating about. Heather ran towards the door, but halfway through hit a Screwdriver with her Keyblade. When She turned to see it she saw six Screwdrivers and a Goofy card.

She ran to get the Goofy card and summoned it before the stunned Screwdrivers came to. He came out and used his Tornado technique, damaging all of the Screwdrivers before disappearing. Heather ran up and began attacking them, defeating two Screwdrivers. She turned around and was stabbed in the chest by a Screwdriver, sending her back where she felt something sharp in her back-another Screwdriver stabbing her. She turned her Keyblade around and cast Fire, defeating that Screwdriver. Then turned around and used the Strike Raid blindly, only defeating one Screwdriver. She ran to another Screwdriver and hit it with her Keyblade, but it defended with its spear. The other Screwdriver snuck up behind and hit Heather in the head with its spear. Heather turned around the hit the Screwdriver hard in the head, defeating it. She turned around to face the last Screwdriver but it floated away and, in a last-ditch effort, threw its spear at Heather, who simply dodged it by sidestepping. Heather threw her Keyblade at the Screwdriver, and it went right through it, destroying it. Out of it came a room card that Heather grabbed.

Once she was back in the distorted room, she ran to the last door of the floor and flashed both her room card and her _Key of Truth_. The door opened and she walked through.

_I already messed up with one person, I don't wanna mess things up for Ariel._ Heather thought, walking through the door.

* * *

**A.N.:** Please, review, constructive criticism is welcomed!


	15. Walk to the Bottom, pt 2

Heather walked through and arrived in Ursula's lair, as everyone reappeared behind her and Ariel and Lindsay swam above her.

"Ursula?" Ariel asked, as Ursula came down from a clam shall up above.

"My, so many guests!" Ursula said, "Have you made up your mind, my dear?"

"I'll do anything for my memories, but I need proof that I can trust you." Ariel said. "You said that you have the power to return my memories, so do it."

"I already told you I need the trident to restore all of your memories." Ursula said, coming close to the group and eyeing the trident as if it was candy and she was a child.

"Then don't restore all of my memories, just a few." Ariel said. Ursula was gonna say something but couldn't think of any way to contradict this, Ariel had her tentacles tied.

"Alright, alright." Ursula said, waving her hand. An aura flashed around Ariel, making her hold her hands to her head.

Ariel looked around, not knowing who anyone was. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Ariel?" Lindsay asked, worried, "Do you know who I am?"

"No…" replied Ariel, "I don't"

"Hey!" Shouted Heather, summoning the Keyblade,"She asked to have her memories returned not taken away!"

Ursula waved another hand and the aura appeared again, but this time Ariel looked around, remembering everyone.

"See, I told you I have the power to return your memories!" said Ursula.

"But…but…you're the one who took them away!" Ariel said.

"I knew something was fishy!" Harold said, snickering a bit. Once again Heather resisted the urge to slap his head.

"But there you have it." Ursula said. "The point is that I may be the only one who took them away, but I'm also the only one who can return them."

"How dare you take away my memories!" Ariel said, angrily.

"You're not getting them back with that attitude." Ursula said. "The trident, please."

"But…I…." Ariel said, confused. "Fine…." She held out the trident and it glowed, floating over to Ursula.

"Hahaha!" Ursula yelled maniacally, holding up the trident high over her head to announce her triumph. "MINE AT LAST! NOW I AM THE RULER OF ALL SEAS!"

"Now give me back my memories!" Ariel demanded.

"But of course, I'm feeling generous." Ursula said, holing out her hand, creating another aura around Ariel that restored her memories. She held her hand on her head before a look of horror appeared on her face.

"Oh no, I remember!" Ariel said, looking up. "I am the missing princess! And that trident is…my father's!"

Everyone gasped at this, before Ursula said, "You're also the easiest to manipulate hahaha!"

"What have I done?" Ariel said, in an almost catatonic state.

"That reminds me," Ursula began, "You always wanted to see different worlds. That was always your hobby. Well dear, I know just the world to send you to! Unfortunately, this will be a one-way trip."

Ursula raised the trident and began shooting down lightning which everyone started avoiding. Ariel just stood there, having sunk down to ground level horrified by what she had done. Heather turned and saw that at any moment she will get shot by lightning.

"Ariel!" Heather yelled, "Move!" She ran over to Ariel and shoved her out of the way, before getting hit with lightning. She expected to be in pain but instead opened her eyes to see she was transported to a platform. The platform was surrounded by water, and was in what appeared to be a huge underwater platform. Heather, confused, looked around before seeing bubbles in the water, and out of it came a huge Ursula, with four of her tentacles surrounding the platform.

"The sea and its denizens will all grovel before me!" Shouted Ursula, before slamming down a tentacle on Heather, who barely escaped it by sliding out of the way. She got up only to see another tentacle trying to hit her and she rolled out of the way of that one. All four tentacles were slamming down trying to get Heather but she kept escaping barely. She came up and began attacking one of the tentacles, before being hit by another tentacle. She turned around and did a back flip, Then began hitting one of the tentacles in a series of successive straight hits, like there was no tomorrow.

"Ouch!" Yelled Ursula, putting the tentacle below the platform, to keep it out of harms way. "How dare you!"

Ursula breathed out bubbles at Heather. She tried hitting them with the Keyblade but they exploded upon impact, sending Heather back to another tentacle that swatted her down to the ground.

"Not taking risks with those bubbles." Heather said, casting Cure and getting back up. She saw the three tentacles around her and Ursula grinning at her viciously. She looked to her keychain to see she was low on cards. She raised her Keyblade and summoned Starfire, who came down and began circling Ursula, shooting lasers at her head, hurting her. Being too distracted by Starfire, she couldn't control her tentacles, giving Heather to perfect chance to recharge her deck and attack them, defeating another one. She turned around and cast Blizzara at a tentacle, doing little damage. She heard the sound of wind and turned to see Ursula blowing bubbles again. Heather combined her top three cards and used the strike raid, popping all the bubbles before hitting Ursula square in the head. She moaned and held her hands to her head while her tentacles fell on the platform. Heather ran up and began attacking one, defeating it. There was only one tentacle left above ground level.

Ursula raised the trident and a huge thunderbolt rained down, hitting Heather. She raised her Keyblade to cast Cure but instead was slapped by the tentacle, sending her over to the edge of the platform. She regained her balance and stayed on. She saw a Goofy card bouncing around and ran to get it, however Ursula saw and slammed down her tentacle on it. Heather ducked and slid to get it as the tentacle came down on her. However Heather was too quick, and before the tentacle could come down to swat her, Goofy jumped out shield fired, hitting and defeating it. Her last tentacle went underneath the platform and Ursula came close to examine her enemies, blowing bubbles again. Goofy threw his shield, destroying the bubbles and hitting Ursula, as Heather jumped up and hit Ursula directly. Goofy disappeared and before long Heather had run out of cards hitting Ursula.

"Ugh…stupid insignificant girl!" Ursula said, raising her trident. Three big bolts of electricity rained down this time. Heather dodged the first two but was hit by the third.

"Ugh…Why did it have to be an electric attack." Heather said, struggling to get up.

"Oh you haven't seen anything yet!" Ursula said. She breathed in again, but instead of bubbled, an electrical laser came out of her mouth, straight for Heather. She tried to block with her Keyblade but it overpowered her and sent a shockwave through her. When the laser had ended Heather was on the ground, smoke emanating from her. Ursula smiled at her apparent victory, but Heather, with whatever energy she said, raised her Keyblade and used her hi-potion. Most of her energy returned and she got up, refusing to give up.

"You still think you can defeat me?" Ursula said, "The ruler of all seas?"

"I don't think I can defeat you." Heather said, "I _will _defeat you."

She closed her eyes to re-summon her cards, as Ursula stood there dumbfounded that she refused to give up.

"Whatever, your funeral." Ursula said, breathing in air. Bubbles came out of her mouth rapidly going towards Heather. However Heather opened her eyes, deck re-charged, and used the Strike Raid, destroying all of the bubbles before they could reach her and then hitting Ursula straight in the mouth.

"Aaaaah!" She yelled, holding her hand to her mouth, as the Keyblade returned to Heather. Ursula raised her Trident and summoned down three huge bolts of electricity, while still covering her mouth. Heather ran fast towards Ursula and avoided all of the electric bolts. She ran up and jumped, cast the Bushwick card, and used the Stun Impact, hitting Ursula once more in the mouth, causing her to scream in pain. Heather combined her top three cards and used the Strike Raid once more, however not at Ursula, but at the trident, knocking it out of her hand and down into the ocean.

"What?" Ursula mumbled, still covering her mouth, "No!"

The trident caused a whirlpool in the water that sucked up Ursula, shrinking her back down to normal size and sending her through. An Ursula card appeared on the platform, black with Ursula's photo on it. Heather walked over to it and picked it up, reading the text:

_Halves the damages from enemy's magic attacks._

Heather put the card in her deck, then being all alone in the platform before hearing another whirlpool start, but this time she could see Ursula's lair, with all of her friends there. Ariel was holding the trident and creating the whirlpool. Heather jumped through, landing back with her friends. Ursula was MIA. When Heather arrived, she could still see Ariel was sad because of what she had done.

"Please don't be sad Ariel, that old witch tricked you!" Lindsay said, trying to help her friend.

"But still, now that I know I betrayed my own father, it's not a good feeling." Ariel said.

"Look Ariel," Heather began, "You can't be mad at yourself for what you did. What you did is in the past and you shouldn't be mad at yourself because of it. You made a mistake and learned from it. You should move on."

Heather heard snickering and saw her friends smiling behind her. They didn't say anything, but Heather knew she was, once again, unconsciously giving herself advice.

"Knock it off!" Heather replied, but she guarded in her heart her own words.

"You're right." Ariel said. "But I still have to return the trident and I'll probably be grounded forever."

"You have a reasonable explanation." Donald said, "He'll understand."

"Just be honest with him, A-hyuck!" Goofy said.

"Ariel? Ariel? Where are you girl?!"

"That was Sebastian!" Ariel said, "He probably came all this way looking at me."

"Just remember, be honest." Harold said.

Ariel smiled and nodded, "Thank you for all of your help." She swam over to Heather and, to everyone's surprise, hugged her out of gratitude. Heather didn't know what to do, and no one knew what she would do, but she hugged back.

"Don't mention it." Heather said, as Ariel swam away.

"Oh, Heather! You made a friend!" Harold teased.

"I don't wanna hear it." Heather said. "She's not even real!"

"You may have helped Ariel, Hayley," Lindsay said walking to her; she seemed to have returned to her human form. "But don't think I'll ever forgive you!"

Heather looked down saddened. A moment ago she had renewed hope because of her own advice but seeing the consequences of her actions follow her was really getting to her.

"I understand…" Heather said.

"Lindsay, let it go." Harold said, trying to help.

"No, she won't ever understand what she's done!" Lindsay said angrily.

"Gawrsh, Lindsay, Heather just helped your friend Ariel," Goofy said, "Why are you so mad?"

"Because what you did to Sylvia was unforgiveable!" Lindsay said.

"Wait, did you say her name was Sylvia?!" Heather said.

"Or was it Linda?" Lindsay said, causing Heather to facepalm. The blonde quickly returned to her glare, "Either way I never will forgive you! And you won't understand what she's been through unless it happens to you!"

Then Lindsay did something nobody expected, she slapped Heather. Everyone's jaw dropped and Heather stood there, shocked.

"That was for Nebula!" Lindsay said, walking away.

"Heather, it's-"

"Don't bother!" Heather said, cutting off Donald. She took a step and was in an undersea grotto. Just like always, she was in front of a huge ladder leading to the next floor. She climbed the ladder, however every step her own thoughts were getting to her, eating her mental state. The mixture of guilt for what she had done and logic for the advice she gave to Ariel was getting to her. No matter how much she tried to make up for the past, everyone kept reminding her of it. She got to the top and walked through the door, arriving at the floor's Exit Hall. The second she walked through the door, everyone reappeared. When the light cleared, they saw something they didn't expect in front of them. A girl in a black hood with short brown hair and braces.

Heather gasped as everyone summoned their weapons, to prepare.

"You probably work with Jonesy, don't you!" Donald said, before she laughed.

"You're too clever." She said, sarcastically, "How did you figure? The oversshized black coats?"

"AKA the same horrid taste of fashion." Heather replied. "What's your name?"

"Julie." She answered, ignoring Heather's comment about her fashion taste."Ssho, are you enjoying your sshtay at Casshtle Oblivion?"

She was still spitting as she spoke, and it was obvious to everyone.

"Say it, don't spray it." Harold mumbled.

"That's more disgusting than intimidating." Donald said.

"I don't know." Heather said, "How much fun do you think it would be to forget good stuff and remember horrible ones?"

"Oh come on now," Julie said, "You mussht admit that it feelssh good peeling away all thosshe worthlessh memoriessh and awakening the true memoriessh that lie deep in your heart."

"True memories?" Heather asked. "Just because I remember something doesn't mean it feels good to remember!"

"How sshelfissh of you." Julie said, "You think it'ssh jussht bad for you? How do you think that poor girl will feel when sshe hearssh that you've forgotten the mossht important thing? Her name? Sshe'ssh already sshuffered enough, hasshn't sshe?"

"Poor girl?" Heather asked.

"How would she know about that girl?" Goofy asked.

"Unless…" Harold began.

"Is she…here?" Heather asked, cautiously.

"Yessh, sshe isssh…." Julie said. Hearing this, Heather's expression changed to one of surprise.

"So then…I have a chance to finally apologize and try to fix everything…" Heather said.

"Yesssh, you do." Julie said, confirming Heather's optimism. "However, the bad guyssh are holding her captive sshomewhere deep insshide the casshtle. And in an ironic twissht, the popular brat is the good guy, ssho you have to go sshave her, sshould sshe want to sshe you. Even more unfortunate…"

Julie walked over to Heather, who was becoming angrier by the second. Out of nowhere Julie kicked Heather in the stomach, causing her to fall. Everyone jumped to attack Julie but she held out her hand and shot a shockwave that sent them all back, hitting the wall.

"I appear to be the bad guy here." Julie said. "And you won't get to her without getting through me."

"How dare you!" Heather yelled, getting up to attack Julie, however Julie stopped her in her tracks by shooting another shockwave, sending Heather down. She struggled to get up but saw something fall out of her pocket. It was a star pendant on a chain.

"Is this…is this mine?" Heather said, as Julie grabbed and held up the unfamiliar pendant.

"What a sshame." Julie said, a little saliva landing on Heather. "You've been wearing it all thissh time and you don't even remember? I knew you were horrible but now you've jussht got to be kidding me. Even I don't believe that you're that Heartlessh. The memory hassh to be engraved sshomewhere deep insshide your heart."

"It could….ouch…" Harold said, trying to get the energy to talk. "Be…another repressed memory…"

"He hassh a point." Julie said, addressing Heather. "Now think carefully. I know that'ssh hard for sshuch a popular queen bee, but I know even you can do it. What issh it and who gave it to you?"

Heather was on her knees, thinking hard. "S….s….sta….."

"Heather?" Goofy asked, seeing Heather starting to remember.

"Heather…Heather…you're getting it now." Julie said, with a vicious demeanor. "Now releasshe that memory from within your heart!"

"Sta…sta…Starr!" Heather said, standing up and getting into a battle position. "Her name is Starr. Right Harold?"

"Yeah, that IS her name!" Harold confirmed, also getting up.

"It'ssh about time." Julie said. "Yessh, her name is Sshtarr. The one who gave you that tacky little pendant."

"It's not tacky!" Heather said. "You're one to talk about tacky, oversized coat brace-face!"

Julie was a little insulted, but was having too much fun playing mindgames with Heather to care. She became a little angry, and said "It'ssh funny that you defend it ssho much, consshidering you didn't even bother to remember it. No sshurprisshe sshince you couldn't even remember her NAME! Talk about heartlessh! I knew that popular queen beessh like you had no sshence of consshcioussh but this issh a new level. It'd ssherve you right if I decided to sshmassh this piece of junk!

"LET IT GO!" Heather yelled, angrily, running up to Julie and swiping her Keyblade. Julie backed up and dodged but dropped the pendant, letting Heather catch it. "This was always tied to her camera. It's proof that I really did care a bit. I bothered to keep it all this time, and I don't remember why, but the point is I have it, and it's proof to myself that I really am not as Heartless as I think."

"Oh but you are!" Julie said. "I find it funny that you sshay it'ssh ssho important to you. You know, consshidering how…"

At this moment electricity surrounded Julie's braces, and the electricity went down to her hands, covering them in static.

"How you didn't even know what is wassh ten sshecondssh ago!"

She held out her hands and a wave of electricity shot out, hitting Heather. She held her Keyblade in front of her, but felt nothing. She put it down to see she was alone with Julie on the platform where she fought Jonesy and the robotic figure.

"That was it?" Heather said, laughing. But her laughter stopped to vie place to a cry of pain as a shockwave hit her body, without Julie doing anything.

"What the-AAAAHH!" Heather yelled as another one hit her. Every second one was hitting her and she didn't know why.

"I'm not the sshtrongessht fighter, nor the mossht agile," Julie said, as Heather was pelted with shockwaves out of thin air. "But I am ssmart. What I did issh implant a sshockwave in your nervoussh ssysshtem. Everytime your heart beatssh, a sshockwave will go through you. If you don't wanna die, I sshuggessht you calm down and sshlow down your heart beat. But then again, what do I care, you're jussht Heartlessh."

"You have-ARGH-got to be-AH-kidding me!" Heather finally stopped to yell but still grunted in pain, incapable of doing anything. Julie merely laughed sadistically. She put her hands to the ground and sent out another shockwave, however this one hit Heather and send back, crushing her against the barrier at the edge of the platform. She fell on the ground but was still getting shocked. She gritted her teeth and stood up, still getting shocked. She ran towards Julie, Keyblade in hand, and slashed her. Julie merely sidestepped and grabbed the Keyblade, pulling Heather closer to her. She put her hand on Heather's head and released electricity, hurting her tremendously. Even worse, the pain raised her heart rate and the shocks hurt her even more. She cast Cure and put her Keyblade on the ground, using it to get up. However, Julie grabbed her by the neck and brought her up to eye level.

"You don't dessherve to resshcue her." Julie said, spitting on Heather.

"You don't," she stopped to wince in pain, "deserve _tohavetherighttospeak_!" Heather said, noticing that if she spoke quickly she could feel less pain, getting enough energy to hit Julie in the face, right in the braces. She screamed and sparks flew, sending Heather back. She was still getting shocked every second, but she had found a weak spot.

"How dare you!" Julie yelled, running up to Heather. Her fist was covered in electricity and she punched Heather square in the cheek. It wasn't the strongest punch, but the electricity made it hurt. Heather case Cure and stood up to face Julie. As soon as she stood up, Julie put her hand out and shot electricity straight at Heather, who was sent back and hit the barrier again.

"Thissh issh it?" Julie asked, "I thought you would have been a more difficult opponent." Julie said, taunting Heather. Heather used her High-Potion and saw a Goofy card. She ran to get it, still getting shocked every second (which hindered her speed) however Julie saw and shot the card with electricity.

"You don't think I know that you work better with friendssh?" Julie said. "After what you've done you don't dessherve to asshk for their help."

"_Theybelieveinme_." Heather said, grunting again.

_I have no more heal cards left, and I need to stop this electricity somehow. _Heather thought, looking at her deck. But a certain card she hadn't thought much about caught her eye. "Donkey-grggk!"

Heather raised her Keyblade and down came Donkey.

"What? Yay you finally need me!" Donkey said. "Who is the enemy? Brace face over there?"

"Hey!" Julie yelled, throwing Thunder at Donkey. He screamed and began running around the room, dropping orbs that had the same power as Cure everywhere. While Julie was distracted by Donkey, Heather ran behind him out of Julie's sight, gaining health. Eventually Donkey disappeared and Julie scanned around for Heather. She turned around and was hit in the face by the Strike Raid, causing her tremendous pain. Heather ran up to hit her, electricity going through her every second. However while Heather was gaining health, she cast the Ursula card, which halved the damage from the thunderbolts in her system. It still hurt but she didn't let it become a distraction. Julie was so angry that she shot electricity at Heather, who slid under it and hit Julie in the chest, sending her back.

"Looks like I have gained the upper hand." Heather said, walking up to Julie. The electricity still went through it, and every second static surrounded her. However it no longer appeared to affect her.

"That'ssh an adorable thought." Julie said. Her braces began to be covered in electricity and it went up to her hand. Julie raised it and shot thunder up. Within seconds pillars of electricity were everywhere. Heather ran around frantically, trying to avoid them, but one hit her directly. She yelled in pain and fell on the ground, scratches and bruises everywhere. There was more power in those thunder pillars than it looked. She tried to heal, but had no healing cards left. Julie walked up to her slowly.

"Who hassh the upper hand?" Julie taunted. She kicked Heather in the jaw and she fell backwards. She didn't have the energy to get up and didn't have the means to heal herself, and trying to re-charge her deck was too dangerous to attempt with Julie right over her. Heather raised her Keyblade an inch and muttered "Woody…"

Woody came down laughing and went straight for Julie. However Julie simply looked at him and shot Thunder at him, causing him to fly away just as soon as he came. She tried raising her Keyblade to summon Starfire, but didn't have the energy to do it.

"Well I guessh there issh no hope for poor Sshtarr after all." Julie said.

"I….will not fail her…..once more!" Heather yelled, doing a back flip to get back up, and pointing her Keyblade at Julie. "I will NOT allow her to be held captive by you." Even though Heather appeared to have newfound energy, she still didn't have much. She cast the Bushwick card and combined her top three cards with the intention of using the Sliding Dash. This was the last chance she would have, and charged Keyblade first at Julie. Julie saw it coming and sidestepped out of the way.

"No!" Heather said, fully convinced she failed. However instead something else happened. She instinctively made a U-turn and charged Keyblade first at Julie from behind, hitting her, then did the same thing five more times. When Heather combined her top three cards she didn't use the Sliding Dash, she used the Sonic Blade. Heather smiled when she realized what she was using, remembering the Sonic Blade. She forgot a lot, but the Sonic Blade is something she'd never forget. She hit Julie from every direction, and Heather finished it off by hitting Julie so hard in the face she dented Julie's braces.

"Aaaaah!" Yelled Julie in pain, bending down. When the Sonic Blade ended Heather walked up to Julie and held her Keyblade at her, signifying her victory. The two were teleported back to Castle Oblivion, where Harold, Donald, and Goofy were there worrying how Heather was.

"Heather!" They yelled, seeing her holding her Keyblade to Julie's head.

"I knew she wouldn't give up." Harold said, smiling.

"Hmph." Julie said, "You're not assh bad assh I thought. You really are a hero." Julie said. However Julie kicked the Keyblade and jumped back, facing Heather. "A heartlessh hero."

"Who asked your opinion?!" Heather yelled, agitated.

"Oh, doessh it hurt becausshe it'ssh the truth?" Julie asked. "You are sshuch a queen bee, so closshed minded that any opinion that you don't hold issh automatically falsshe, simply because you're afraid of the truth. And sshince you're afraid of the truth…"

Julie tossed a blue card to Heather, then tossed three more to Harold, Donald, and Goofy.

"Then I sshould put you on the path to ssheek it." Julie said. "I created more cards from your memoriessh. Now be a good girl and sshay 'thankssh.'" Julie disappeared in a black portal, leaving Heather and co. alone, but from the portal came a Thunder card that flew to Heather.

"Don't you dare leave Julie!" Heather yelled to where she stood, so angry that she slashed the air, as the Thunder card added itself to her deck. "Where are you?! SHOW YOURSELF COWARD!"

Jiminy climbed onto Heather's shoulder and said "Heather, calm down! She's not coming back!" He jumped off and between her and Harold, Donald, and Goofy. Heather put her Keyblade away and calmed down.

"I HATE THIS!" Heather yelled. "How dare someone as sadistic as her be the catalyst to bring back the memory of Starr's name!"

"And her pendant…" Harold said, to which Heather angrily glared at Harold.

"Hurry up, let's go!" Heather said, running over to the next floor as everyone followed.

* * *

"Whew." Julie said, reappearing in the crystal ball room. "Throwing that battle really wore me out."

"Throwing?" Jonesy said, laughing, "Looks to me like you just plain lost. And from that dent on those braces I could tell that-"

"Hey!" Julie said, angrily, "You jussht don't appresshiate the nuances of-"

"A useless battle."

"Huh?" Julie asked.

Jonesy and Julie looked towards the door to see a figure appear in a black portal. The figure put down their hood, revealing a middle-aged man. In one hand was a truncheon that he was slamming down on the other hand, as if he was interrogating someone.

"Oh, Ron!" Julie said, as Jonesy took a step back.

"How could you be beaten by someone of such little worth?" Ron said, "You shame the organization."

Upon hearing this Julie's nostrils flared, being angered by Ron's presence.

"Well I see you got my message." Jonesy said, laughing and trying to avoid a tense situation. "Where are the others?"

"They're busy handling something else but they will be here, don't worry." Ron said, "I don't fully understand why you wanted us to come through, but it doesn't matter. If you want me to lend you a hand I will."

"Well I really just wanted you to test her…" Jonesy said.

"You obviously think this Heather has a lot of potential." Ron said. "You'd have to in order to go behind my back and take the prisoner, who was under MY jurisdiction."

"It was a direct order from _him_." Jonesy said.

"The damage that was done was _my_ responsibility though, given to me from the superior himself. _He's_ not our leader, it wasn't his order to give."

"_Not yet."_ Julie thought.

"Don't forget, I guard everything." Ron said, "So think twice next time you want to take something from under my nose."

"Whatever, just get ready to test her." Jonesy said.

"Are you talking to me?" Ron said, walking up and eyeing Jonesy. "Are you _talking_ to me? You don't tell me what to do. I won't be testing her."

"Then why the hell did you come?" Jonesy said, his face an inch away from Ron's. The two of them were not happy to be talking to each other.

"Our prisoner isn't the only thing I've been guarding, and I think it's time to test out how strong she really is by releasing something else on her." Ron said, "An experiment if you will."

"So you just yelled at us for releasing the prisoner yet you're about to release something else we have?" Jonesy said. "Did you even make it?"

"I didn't make it, but it's under my control and that's what matters." Ron said.

"Why don't you jussht tessht her yoursshelf?" Julie said.

"Hey!" Ron said, "You do not tell me what to do. In case you forgot you're number XII in this organization. And what number am I? IV. I'm a guard, and I get on the frontlines after all of the soldiers have already been on the battlefield."

"That makessh NO sshensshe." Julie said. "You just contradicted yourself."

"He's just scared." Jonesy taunted.

"I'm going to fight her eventually." Ron said, "I just need to make sure she's worthy of so much attention. I still don't understand what you see in her."

Ron turned around and began leaving the room.

"Once she's through with the next floor there'll be a surprise waiting for her, and it should more than satisfy whatever you expect to come of testing her." Ron said.

"Well before you leave, I have a humble gift to my elder because of how nice I am." Jonesy said, throwing a blue card with a photo of Red Lead Country on it.

"Elder?" Ron said. "That is that last-"

Everyone stopped however when they heard another figure walk in. They turned around and saw a figure in a black hood enter the room.

* * *

"Heather, not so fast!" Donald said. Heather had run all the way to the Floor 7 Entrance Hall. She stopped and began taking the blue cards from everyone.

"Does it look like I wanna slow down?" Hether said. "Do I look tired to you?"

"Well I don't see why not, we've been here for days and haven't had the need to eat sleep, or even go to the bathroom. It's really scaring me." Harold said.

"Probably an effect of the castle." Goofy said.

"Harold, it doesn't matter why, so long as it works in our favor." Heather said. "How many times must I tell you that? Now let's go, there's no time. They have Starr and I'm the only one who can rescue her. And then, maybe, that'll make up for everything I've done for her."

As Heather walked up to the door Jiminy went near Donald, Goofy, and Harold.

"Something's fishy." Jiminy said. "That pendant, how did Heather not know she had it?"

"Maybe she just forgot about it?" Goofy said.

"Even still, it's weird." Jiminy said.

"What are you guys waiting for, let's go!" Heather said. She picked out the Halloween Town card and walked through the doors, intent on saving Starr. As Harold, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy walked through, Jiminy said "I just think we should be suspicious, that's all."


	16. Afraid of Memories?, pt 1

**A.N.:** Hello everyone! After a hiatus, ckelef1 managed to restart writing. Writers do their best now and are preparing. Please wait warmly until it is ready.

* * *

**Floor 7-Halloween Town**

"Gawrsh!" Goofy shrieked, "I don't like the look of this place, I bet it's crawling with ghosts!"

The group found themselves in an alleyway in the spooky Halloween Town. There was a miasma floating over their feet. The light of the lampposts did almost nothing to struggle with the murky environment they were supposed to illuminate. In fact the lights were faint enough to illuminate the faces of the people who passed by. Perhaps, this was the reason why the lights were so faint: they allowed the monsters to see the faces of fear of their victims. And get a good laugh at them.

"Aw phooey!" retorted Donald, "There's nothing to worry about! You won't be spooked if you already know what's coming! Not even real ghosts can frighten us anymore. If they take one look at us then THEY'LL be the ones running scared. "

In order to mix up with the new environment, they had a change in attire, and also as a memento of their adventures at the real Halloween Town: Heather wearing a vampire costume, including a red medium dress, with red bat wings coming out from the back of the dress, black dettached sleeves, but showing a bit of cleavage, and black leather boots and fake fangs. Harold was wearing what looked like a giant slug costume, his glasses were deep red and he was wearing gloves with claws. Donald was wearing a mummy costume, covered in bandages, even with invisible paint around his belly. Finally, Goofy was in a Frankenstein-like costume, his hat was a big screw, and his eyes had two different colors.

"You really think so?" asked Goofy.

"Of course!" said Donald, "Well actually…"

Donald glanced over each of their costumes and noticed Harold's.

"Some of us will have them running scared." Donald finished.

"Gosh!" finished Harold, "You just don't know how scary a Mongolian death worm can be! They are one of the most dangerous organisms to exist!"

"Well then anyone who knows what that is will also be running scared." Donald said, "Happy now?"

Harold just let out a shrug and crossed his arms while Donald laughed at his backhanded compliment.

"Are we really doing this right now?" Heather asked. "No time for talking, the sooner we finish this floor then the closer I am to saving Starr and atoning for my past."

"Sorry Heather, just taking in the cool new digs." Harold said, enjoying his costume despite Donald's criticism.

"Well you can look at your costume as we move," Heather said, bolting out of thr alleyway. "We have legs for a reason."

"Gawrsh, she's in quite a hurry." Goofy said.

"Well you can't blame her, the whole Starr thing really affected her." Harold said, following Heather.

They walked out of the alleyway and into the town square, where there was a huge guillotine in the middle of the square. Many buildings had an eerie appearance with pumpkin shaped statues beside them. A fountain was in the middle of the square, spotting out a green liquid that supposedly was water. They walked by the fountain when they saw a silhouette rise over them. They turned and saw a slender skeleton in a black suit rise out of the fountain.

"Welcome to Halloween Town!" He yelled happily, opening his arms to the group.

"Waaak! A Ghost!" Yelled Donald, falling over on his back, scared. Heather, Harold, and Goofy jumped back and got into battle positions (though Goofy was shuddering behind his shield), but the figure didn't seem interested in fighting.

"Wow that was the best shriek I've heard in ages!" He said, "If you're THAT easy to scare then we're gonna have a great time! Sorry I haven't properly introduced myself, I'm Jack Skellington! Welcome to Halloween Town!"

"You already said that…" Heather noted.

"Well when you've lived here as long as I have you just love it! Especially when you're me and are also known as the Pumpkin King. So if you're looking for a ghoulishly good time then you've come to the right place."

Donald angrily got back up and yelled "Well we aren't!"

"Too bad, because at the moment we've got a bit of a problem in Halloween Town." Jack said.

"What kind of problem?" Harold asked.

Heather slapped the back of Harold's neck, causing a "Gosh" to come out of him.

"Did you not pay attention to what I said earlier?" Heather said, "We don't have time for this!"

"Well we have time for something!" Goofy said, holding up his shield as several Shadow Heartless surrounded them.

"Oh look there's the problem I was talking about!" Jack commented, as everyone got into battle positions. As per usual, a light flashed and Heather was alone, surrounded by six Shadows. She smiled as she cast her Thunder card, hitting and stunning all the Shadows. Immediately after she combined her top three cards, using her newly-remembered Sonic Blade technique. She dashed at each Shadow defeating it upon impact. Within mere seconds all of the Shadows were gone.

"Too easy." Heather said, before four Wight Knight Heartless appeared around her. "Spoke too soon."

She ran towards one of them and began attacking it with her Keyblade, but it did a full spin and whacked Heather back with one of its arms, sending her back. Without time to even process being hit, she was hit again by a Wight Knight that jumped up and brought its arms down on her, hitting her with them like whips. She jumped back a bit to try to think of a strategy but felt a sharp pain in her back, she saw two Creeper Plant Heartless shooting seeds at her like bullets. She tried blocking with her Keyblade but while one was having its attacks blocked the other was shooting her where she was vulnerable. Heather couldn't keep up, and even worse she forgot about the Wight Knights that took the opportunity to hit her from behind with their arms. She looked at the Creeper Plants and ran towards them, avoiding their seeds. Combining her top three cards, Heather jumped up and brought down her Keyblade with the stun blade, stunning the Creeper Plants momentarily. She used the window to heal and looked towards the Wight Knights.

She saw them coming at her slowly, their limbs unbalanced like walking dead. Heather combined her top three cards and used the Strike Raid, breaking their formation and hitting two Wight Knights, defeating them when the Keyblade hit them a second time as it came back to Heather. She cast Fira at a Wight Knight and then hit it once more, defeating it. She turned to face the last one but was hit by seeds from the Creeper Plants, who were no longer stunned. Looking at her deck for ideas she saw a familiar face and smiled as she raised her Keyblade.

"I have arrived, what is it you require?" Starfire asked, as happily as ever having been summoned by Heather.

"Take care of the plants for me." Heather said, gesturing towards the Creeper Plants. Starfire nodded and flew towards them, shooting lasers form her eyes at them, defeating them in mere moments before the Heartless even knew what was going on. As Starfire was disappearing, her mission having been accomplished, Heather was attacking the last Wight Knight and defeated it with a Blizzara spell.

She sighed of relief only to hear a noise and look up to see two Gargoyle Heartless circling and a Search Ghost wandering around.

"Are you kidding me?" She asked rhetorically. She looked at her deck which was whittled down to barely anything after using so many sleights. She looked at the Search Ghost and saw a green Harold card materialize behind it. Looking at her deck she summoned Woody, who came down and began chasing after the Gargoyles, while the Search Ghost looked on in confusion. Heather used the chance to slip by and summon Harold.

"All shall bow before the mighty Mongolian Death Worm!" Harold said, getting into battle position.

Heather merely slapped the back of his head, "Stop talking and fight!"

Harold used his dancing nunchakus on the Gargoyles, as Heather summoned back her deck and turned her attention on the Search Ghost, defeating it in a matter of moments. She looked up and saw Harold disappear along with the Gargoyles. Out of them came a red room card with a picture of a Shadow on it. Eventually Harold rematerialized along with Goofy, Donald, and Jack.

Donald angrily marched up to Jack and kicked him in his large shin. "What's the big idea? Why'd you go and call the Heartless?"

Jack immediately began waving his arms, gesturing that they were wrong. "Oh no I didn't call them! I just knew when they were going to show up. In fact, I'd love to get rid of them. They actually go around attacking people instead of just scaring them! I want to find out why they're here so I was on my way to Dr. Finkelstein's lab. Follow me!"

"As much fun as that would be," began Heather sarcastically, "We have a mission and we're kind of in a rush so we don't have time to-"

"You know," said Jack, tapping his finger on his chin ignoring Heather's words, "Maybe the Heartless are here because of those experiments he's been forgoing on _true memories."_

"True memories?" Heather asked. As she turned towards Harold, Donald, and Goofy. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Didn't Julie say something about them?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah she did!" Donald said, "I just can't remember what."

"I remember." Harold began, "She said, and I quote, that is mussht feel good peeling away worthlesssh memoriessh and awakening the true memoriessh that lie deep in your heart."

"You don't have to mimic her lisp, just the words!" Donald said.

"Well by true memories, she was saying it in relation to the repressed memories of Starr and all that I've done to her." Heather analyzed. "But I still don't fully understand what a 'true memory' is. Maybe there's more attached to the sudden return of that memory then we know, something that might be of help. Perhaps it would be in our best interest after all to take a small detour and learn more about what we're dealing with."

"Gawrsh we could also learn about any true memories we have as well." Goofy said, "Ya know, since only Heather's remembered anything."

"Are you coming?" Jack asked, getting their attention.

"Yeah, sorry we were just discussing something," Heather said as she walked towards him.

Donald grabbed Harold by the neck and brought him down to ear level, "I don't trust him, what if he's taking us right to the Heartless?"

"You found me out!" Jack said, appearing right behind Donald, who jumped and shrieked out of fear. Jack laughed, along with Heather and Goofy, and said "Ha! I'm kidding. Now let's go!" As soon as he said this a light shone above Heather and gave her the _Key of Beginnings_. She looked up and she was no longer with her friends in the town square, she was in a warped version of the square with a door straight ahead. Heartless roamed the grounds.

"And the cycle begins anew." Heather said, as she made a break straight for the door (already being in possession of a room card). She jumped over ledges and got to the door, where she flashed the card and moved on to the next room. She saw that now she was in a graveyard of sorts, with tombstones in the middle (that Heartless were crawling around) and fences all around. There was a door to her left and a door straight ahead. Knowing she needed a room card, she ran up to a Shadow and hit it with her Keyblade. In a moment she was surrounded by three Wight Knights and three Gargoyles which circled above her.

Heather started by casting Thunder, striking all three Gargoyles and sending them down. She cast Fira and Blizzara at one, defeating it, and then ran to another one and began attacking it. However it regained consciousness and flapped its wings, sending back Heather into the arms of a Wight Knight who spun around, whipping its arms damaging Heather. She combined her top three cards and used the Sonic Blade, but the Wight Knight, being as slender as it was, could sidestep and easily avoid each attack.

"Guess it's been such a long gap without using the Sonic Blade that I kind of lost my touch." Heather said, hitting the Wight Knight a few times and defeating it. She turned around and saw the Gargoyle diving headfirst for her. She did a dodge roll and then initiated the Strike Raid when the Gargoyle had passed her. She turned around and threw her Keyblade, defeating the Gargoyle. She stood back up and re-charged her cards, then ran to the last Wight Knight and hit it until it disappeared, leaving a room card for Heather.

Transported back to the distorted graveyard, Heather chose the door on the left and used her room card, entering another warped-graveyard like room. This room, however, only had one door up ahead with a crown on it.

"Bingo." Heather noted, running to a Shadow and hitting it with her Keyblade. In a flash she was surrounded by five Search Ghosts. She used the strike raid to break their formation then cast Fire and Blizzara on two Search Ghosts, defeating them. She ran up to another Search Ghost and hit it with her Keyblade until it was defeated. She turned but felt a strange presence overcome her and she saw she was floating off the ground mysteriously. She looked up and saw a Search Ghost was carrying her up.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Heather shrieked. Her arms were trapped by the Search Ghost and she jut kept going higher and higher. She turned the Keyblade in her hand by the hilt until it was pointing towards the sky. "Thunder!"

Thunderbolts came down defeating the Search Ghost and sending Heather down towards the ground. She Did a dodge roll as she hit the ground, lessening the impact but she still felt great pain. She used Cure and looked around for the last Search Ghost. She turned and the first thing that met her was the Search Ghost's claws being brought down on her face. Heather screamed and jumped back, then began attacking the Search Ghost until it was nothing. Out of it came a room card and soon Heather was back in the warped graveyard room.

"Ugh, stupid Heartless." Heather said, recovering from the fight. She ran towards the door with the crown on it and flashed the room card and her _Key of Beginnings_. The door opened and she stepped through, entering a small laboratory. She walked through as Jack, Harold, Donald, and Goofy re-appeared behind her. At the end of the laboratory was a pale man in a wheelchair reading a giant book.

"Allow me to introduce Dr. Finkelstein!" Jack said, gesturing towards the man. He turned his wheelchair around to greet his guests.

"Nice to meet you all…" Dr. Finkelstein said halfheartedly, in a disheartened tone.

"He's a world famous genius." Jack said, oblivious to Dr. Finkelstein's mood.

"What good is that when I'm too smart." Dr. Finkelstein lamented, rolling his wheelchair to another part of the laboratory. "All I've done with that genius is creating something horrible."

"What exactly?" Donald asked.

"Well…where do I begin..." Dr. Finkelstein lectured, "Have you ever stopped to think about the power of 'true memories?'"

"Yes, I've actually been wondering a lot about them." Heather replied. "There's more about them that I'd like to know."

Dr. Finkelstein smiled at how Heather wanted to learn more, in all his years of research it was rare for him to meet someone who was interested in his experiments as much as he was. "Well then you've come to the right place. You see my girl, our hearts are full of memories-but not all of them reflect the truth. The heart isn't a recording device. Even important memories change with time. They warp or fade, leaving us with but a shadow of what we hoped to remember."

"Then that's what's happening to me." Heather said. "And as my newer memories fade in this castle then those that faded before come to surface. Jiminy was right about why that memory came back after all."

"It happens to everyone." Dr. Finkelstein continued. "Memories are never truly lost but buried down in the deepest parts of our hearts. Some memories grow ugly and decay, and some others have blossomed and become more beautiful. It all depends on how much thought we give to them and how accurately we remember them. If we could recover our true memories the world would seem completely different."

"I get it!" Goofy blurted out, happy to understand. "Just because we have our memories doesn't mean we have the whole picture perfectly _in_ our memory. We can remember some events more fondly then they were or even worse."

"Our memories changed based off of our experiences," began Harold, "and when some are too difficult to change…"

"They get repressed," finished Heather. "And by unlocking our true memories we would be able to remember everything that ever happened to us, as if it just happened yesterday without pre-conceived notions."

"Precisely!" Dr. Finkelstein said. "So I wanted to test what would happen by re-gaining all of our true memories. I devised a potion from forget-me-nots that bring our true memories back."

"Did it work?" Donald asked.

"Well…" began Dr. Finkelstein, "That's the problem."

"What happened?" Goofy asked. Dr. Finkelstein turned to answer but instead another voice did.

"As soon as Dr. Finkelstein got a whiff of the potion, the Heartless began appearing."

They turned and saw a girl in a hood and cape entering in the laboratory, holding a scythe, which blade had the same length of the book that the doctor was reading. She was none other than Gwen.

"Gwen!" Yelled the group, surprised at seeing the goth girl.

"Ah Gwen, you've returned!" Dr. Finkelstein said, wheeling towards Gwen. "Everyone, you all appear to be familiar with my lab assistant Gwen. She's been a great help in my research!"

"I do know them." Gwen said, "Some of them are old friends. Hello Harold, Donald, Goofy."

Gwen walked right past Heather disregarding her completely and went straight to Dr. Finkelstein. Normally Heather would care, but now that she knew why everyone was mad at her she really couldn't blame them. All she could do was bear through it.

"I searched everywhere but I couldn't find it." Gwen said. "I looked in every mausoleum, opened the sarcophagi, even tromped through the pumpkin patch and looked in the Cyclops' eye."

"Couldn't find what?" Harold asked. Dr. Finkelstein opened the top half of his head and scratched his brain before wheeling closer to Heather. Donald gagged a bit at the sight of the raw brain, and Dr. Finkelstein's unique ability to open his head.

"The potion that I made." Dr. Finkelstein said.

"Why do you need it?" Donald asked, regaining his composure, "Seems to me like all it led to was a failed experiment."

"No!" shouted Dr. Finkelstein. Those words seemed to hit a sore spot, it was so sudden that it forced Donald to jump back in fear. "My research is flawless! I just need another look at the potion to find out what went wrong."

"Unfortunately it vanished." Continued Gwen, "and as you could probably tell I've been looking for it. I just can't find it."

"Maybe it's not somewhere but with someone." Heather said, walking up to Gwen. Gwen glared at her and took a few steps back, not having the slightest interest in being associated with what she saw as a monster.

"It must've been Sally!" Dr. Finkelstein deduced. "That girl is always trying to bring my research to a halt…"

"I actually haven't seen her in my search, so that is a possibility." Gwen said. "She's probably in the graveyard, knowing her."

"You all have to find her and get my potion back." Dr. Finkelstein requested. "That's the only way to know about true memories!"

"I'll help, for once I actually don't mind going on a mad quest." Heather said. "I still have a lot more I want to know about true memories."

"Gawrsh you sure Heather?" Goofy asked. "I mean that true memory you already know of already affected you so much…"

"Well maybe it's really not as bad as I remember." Heather replied, "You said it yourself, memories warp with time. Maybe by bringing that potion back to Dr. Finkelstein he can do research on what affects the memories so I know if I really was as bad to Starr as I remember."

"Believe me, you were." Gwen said glaring at Heather.

Heather just ignored her and asked "Alright Gwenny which way to the graveyard?"

"Um what did you just call me?" Gwen countered, glaring at Heather.

"What?" Heather said, "I just thought that since we were working together-"

"Don't you DARE call me that!" Gwen shouted, "After all you've done you don't deserve the right to address anyone or even be associated with a single soul!"

"Then don't do it for me, do it for Dr. Finkelstein." Heather said, "It's the only way to help him, and I need to know about true memories to make it up to Starr what I've done."

"You'll never be able to make it up to her." Gwen said, glaring at Heather. "In fact when I mentioned how Heartless began appearing as soon as Dr. Finkelstein opened his potion, I was referring specifically to you."

Heather couldn't form any words, and kept her eyes narrowed. But she just lowered her head. Even though she was on the path to atone for her actions, all the massive guilt had returned to her and she didn't have any way to help her case. Even if she wouldn't openly admit due to their rivalry, Gwen was right. Harold looked at the two of them and tried to break the tension.

"So uh… which way to the graveyard again?" asked Harold. Gwen looked at Heather then turned to Harold.

"This way, follow me." Gwen walked through the door, as did Jack, Harold, Donald, and Goofy. A light shone above Heather and down came the Key of Guidance. Without so much as flinching or saying a word she grabbed the card and was seamlessly transported back to the distorted graveyard (not the one they needed to go to).

"Remember Heather, you are going to save her." Heather said, to herself, walking back to the other distorted room. "You are going to make it up to her and all will be well. Your conscious will be clear. In fact maybe you weren't even that bad to her after all." Even though she kept saying this, the guilt in her heart, though it shrunk, was still there. She walked up to a Shadow and hit it with her Keyblade.

Within mere moments she was surrounded by two Shadows, two Wight Knights, and two Gargoyles. She began by combining her top three cards and using the Strike Raid to bring down the Gargoyles. She went up and began attacking them, but while doing that her guard was down and the Wight Knights took the opportunity to hit her from behind. She turned about face and used Fira and Blizzara, defeating them. She could see the Shadows coming towards her to she used Thunder, defeating the Shadows. The Gargoyles flapped their wings and charged at Heather, but she blocked with her Keyblade and countered, defeating them both. Out of them came a green room card with a photo of a treasure chest on it.

Heather, back in the first distorted graveyard room, walked up to the only remaining door and flashed her room card. She walked through the now open door and was in a distorted room resembling the town square. There were doors on the left (with a crown) and the right. In the middle however, instead of a guillotine there was a treasure chest. She walked up to it and opened it. Inside was a room card, and a new magic card: Gravity. Heather added it to her deck, got the room card and walked up to the door on the left. She flashed both her room card and her_ Key of Guidance,_ granting her entry into the graveyard. As she walked, Jack, Gwen, Harold, Donald, and Goofy walked behind her, catching up to her. At the end of the graveyard was a girl, staring at the moon.

"Sally!" yelled Jack, getting the girls attention. She turned around and was revealed to be a lifelike ragdoll, with different pieces of her skin sewed together.

"I knew we'd find her here." Gwen said, as they all walked up to Sally.

"Oh hi Jack, hi Gwen." Sally said, "Who are your friends?"

"People who are interested in true memories and need the potion you have." Heather replied. " You do have it, correct?"

"Well…..yes…" Sally said, taking out the green potion from a pocket in her dress.

"Could you give it back?" Jack asked. Sally looked at the potion, looked at the group, then looked down with a touch of confusion and sadness on her face.

"I guess so, if you insist…" Sally replied. "But, I'm afraid. All the doctor did was smell it, and Heartless appeared. What if someone drinks it?"

"Are you kidding?" noted Jack, "What could be more exciting?"

"I'm worried, Jack." Lamented Sally, "Isn't there another option?"

They exchanged nervous glances, because they understood Sally's dilemma. It didn't seem like a good idea at all, since they themselves didn't know what they were dealing with. Heather was familiar with true memories and what they do to a person. Discovering the true memory of Starr had changed her view on everything completely. She didn't want to drink the potion herself, truth was she just wanted to know more about what affects a memory so she could know if she really was as bad to Starr as she remembers. However from what Harold remembers and from how Gwen treats her, she was. She just wanted somebody-anybody or anything to tell her otherwise. But she knew it in her heart that she knew the truth and trying to discover anything else would just be running away from the truth. And she knew that she had to face it, and she needed to focus on rescuing Starr rather than trying to cover up the memory of her.

"Heather?" Donald asked, snapping Heather out of her thoughts. "Any ideas?"

"Yeah," Heather said, "Leave the potion with her. It seems to be in good hands. There are some things that shouldn't be experimented on and perhaps true memories are one of them." Goofy and Donald nodded in approval of Heathers decision.

"You sure Heather?" Harold asked. "We went to all this trouble to find it. Dr. Finkelstein won't be that happy that his potion just went to waste."

"Oh don't worry I'll find a use for it!"

Everyone looked around for where that loud booming voice came form when all of a sudden a big white figure appeared behind Sally and pushed her down, taking the potion.

"Sally!" cried Jack.

"The potion!" Gwen said, summoning her scythe.

"Oogie Boogie! You again!" Jack yelled angrily.

"Jack, where are your manners?" said Oogie Boogie, "Your friends over there said there was no use for the potion, I'm just making sure it gets put to good use! Well, well…just one sniff and the Heartless appeared. What could happen if I chugged the whole thing?"

Everyone else summoned their weapons, not wanting to let him find out.

"Does that REALLY sound like a good idea?" asked Heather.

"No, that sounds like a SCARY idea," he laughed "Poor Jack! You can't hold a candle to Oogie Boodie. Time for Halloween Town to taste pain and despair beyond any nightmare!"

"Pain and despair?" Jack asked, "Oogie you monster!"

Oogie Boogie merely jumped over the fence and ran away.

"No way in hell you're getting away with that!" Gwen said, running after him. Everyone followed but when Heather took a step, down came the _Key to Truth._ Without even noticing she had returned to the distorted town square room.

"Why are the bad guys always blind idiots?" Heather asked, as she walked back to the distorted graveyard room to fight Heartless.


	17. Afraid of Memories?, pt 2

Back in the distorted graveyard room, Heather ran up to a Shadow and hit it with her Keyblade, initiating a battle. In front of her now stood three Shadows and two Search Ghosts. She used the Sonic Blade and defeated the Shadows, however the Search Ghosts were able to merely float way from her reach. She turned about face and cast Gravity, sending them both to the ground. She then combined her top three cards once more and used the Strike Raid, defeating both of them within seconds. Out of one came a room card, which Heather kept.

She went back to the distorted town square room and went to the unopened door. She flashed her room card and walked through the door. Now she was in another distorted graveyard room with Heartless roaming about. She could see a door at the end with a crown on it. Heather ran up to a Search Ghost and hit it with her Keylade. She was now face to face with three Search Ghosts and three Wight Knights.

She cast Thunder which hit some of the Heartless, then rushed forward and focused her energy on a Wight Knight. She could hear the Search Ghosts levitating near her so she turned around and cash Fira and Blizzara and two of them, defeating them. She turned around back to the Wight Knight but was hit by the Wight Knights arms as it spun around. She was sent back and landed on the ground, where a Goofy card appeared.

"Goofy, I need you to take care of the Wight Knights and I'll take the ghost." Heather commanded.

"You've got it!" complied Goofy, who ran up to the Wight knights and used his tornado technique. This sent both of the Wight Knights flying to opposite corners of the battle field where they both disappeared upon impact. Meanwhile Heather had ran up to the Search Ghost who tried attacking Heather with its claws, but she just blocked and hit back, countering and defeating the Heartless. Out of it came a room card which Heather grabbed a hold of.

Back in the distorted graveyard room, Heather ran up to the door with the crown on it, flashing both her room card and her _Key to Truth._ The door opened and she walked through, entering Oogie's torture chamber. It was made up of three conveyor belts: one red and two green, each with different symbol on them. They ran parallel to each other and at the end of each was Oogie on a platform, high above them. Heather ran up to Oogie as Jack, Gwen, Harold, Donald, and Goofy reappeared from behind.

"Oogie!" Jack called, "Hand over the potion!"

"You fools just don't know when to quit." Laughed Oogie, "Say…all this running around is making me thirsty!"

"Oogie! No!" cried Jack.

"Oh yes!" replied Oogie. He took out the potion, pulled out the cork, and chugged the entire thing.

"Well this can't end well." Heather analyzed, summoning her Keyblade.

On the contrary, Oogie put down the bottle and wiped some excess liquid off his lips. "Ahh! Lip smacking good!" However as if something overcame him, Oogie started shaking, as if there was an earthquake but it only affected him. "Agh! What's this? What…Something's wrong!" A look of terror overcame Oogie's face and he put his tendrils to his head, overcome. "Something deep inside me, something….scary!"

"I told you that was a bad idea!" Heather yelled as Oogie began cowering.

"What's going on?!" Gwen asked.

"No!" cowered Oogie, "Get back! Stay away from me!" He pulled out two red dice and threw them at the ground near the group. The dice exploded upon impact, being strong enough to send Heather back a few feet. The smoke cleared and she looked around and saw that everyone had disappeared with the exception of her and Oogie.

"No, get away from me…AH!" yelled Oogie, looking desperately to the sides while shaking his head. He stomped the ground and up came a fence on the platform, protecting him from Heather.

"Guess this is going down the hard way." Heather said, running up to the fence, She jumped up and tried breaking the fence with her Keyblade but it wouldn't budge. Oogie took out dice that were a more faded red and threw them on the ground.

"This will teach you to stay away!" Oogie said, before shrieking for no reason. His mental health was slowly degrading. Down came a sharp blade which went up and down across the field. Heather tried running away from it but got cornered, and the blade came down and hit her, cutting her skin and causing her to scream in pain. She raised her Keyblade and cast Cure, getting up just as Oogie threw down purple dice. This time, in rage, Heather ran up and hit the dice aiming for the fence. They exploded upon impact and lowered the fence halfway down. Heather tried jumping but still couldn't make it over.

"AHHH!" yelled Oogie, "No don't come near me!" he threw down red dice again, and when they landed they disappeared and in their place appeared two Gargoyles. However our of the third die came a Donald card. Heather snuck past the Gargoyles and grabbed the card, summoning Donald.

"WAK-What do I-oh…" Donald said, noticing the Heartless without Heather having to say a word. Donald cast Thunder, sending both Gargoyles down to the ground and then cast Fira on one of the Gargoyles defeating it. Heather wasted the other one by casting Blizzara. Donald disappeared and Heather turned to face Oogie

"Moon-mooon MOONLIT NIGHT AHAHAHAHAHA!" Oogie yelled maniacally, throwing red dice down. Heather ran up and hit them with her Keyblade but they exploded in her face, sending her flying back. She cast Cure again and stood up as Oogie sent down purple dice. Heather hit them toward the fence and they exploded, removing it completely. Heather jumped onto the platform as Oogie's face turned to one of horror. She combined her top three cards and used the Sonic Blade, hitting Oogie seven times doing tremendous damage.. She turned around and cast Fira, sending him flying back to the wall. Heather ran up to Oogie to hit him some more but Oogie jumped up, sending out a wave of energy that send Heather flying back off the platform.

As she went flying she combined her top three cards and used the Strike Raid, sending the Keyblade flying towards Oogie and hitting him twice. Unfortunately as Heather landed back down on the conveyor belts, the fence came back up and the Keyblade got caught by it. She summoned the Keyblade back to her hand and began running up towards the fence, however no matter how much her legs moved she didn't move herself. She looked up and saw Oogie smiling as a lever was down. Heather looked down herself and noticed that the conveyor belt was moving and she was going against it, almost like it was a treadmill. She looked down to her keychain as she ran and noticed she was running low on cards.

"I can't…contain…HAHAHAHAH I WIN I WIN I WIN!" Oogie yelled, jumping up and down happily and sending out faded red dice. When they landed they disappeared revealing the total of 15.

"OOOH MY FAVORITE!" Oogie yelled, as he pressed a button and, from both sided of the room, throwing knives were launched towards Heather. She looked both directions and jumped to the ground, missing the knives. However she was caught by the conveyor belt and was sent flying back very rapidly to the back wall of the torture chamber, hurting her immensely. Worse of all was that the conveyor belt kept going and she was now barreling and cartwheeling, unable to get up.

"I….need….to….do…SOMETHING!" Heather yelled, not being able to get up nor build up the concentration to re-summon her deck. She closed her eyes and attempt to re-summon her cards, when she felt immense searing pain in her back. Oogie had thrown the red dice at Heather and they exploded upon impact. She was growing more exhausted as the seconds passed. She tried rocking herself back and forth and was able to move herself so that instead of cartwheeling, she was rolling on the conveyor belt like a log. Oogie Boogie was merely laughing on the ground of his platform, his deteriorating mental state getting the best of him.

Even though Heather's eyes couldn't adjust to the rapidly rotating environment she could make out a green card ahead of her. Using all the energy she had she crawled and crawled, reaching for the card.

"HEY!" Oogie yelled, noticing. He threw red dice at Heather with the intent to stop her. However Heather, using all of her strength, reached the card and summoned it, not knowing who it was. A figure in a hood and cape with a big scythe immediately jumped out and slashed the red dice, then jumped up and slashed the fence open. Oogie shrieked in fear as the figure ran up and began slashing at him for ten seconds relentlessly, not giving up. With every slash Oogie felt more and more pain, peeling the cloth creating his skin breaking at the seams, literally. She slashed Oogie one more time straight through the stomach creating loose ends all around his body. He tried to hold himself together with his tendrils but one string became so loose that it fell off the platform and got caught up in the conveyor belt. Within seconds it rapidly began undoing all of Oogie, exposing nothing but a mass of bugs underneath.

"No!" He yelled as the bugs fell everywhere. "My bugs, my bugs, my bugs!" Eventually all the bugs disappeared and the conveyor belt stopped, giving Heather enough time to catch her breath.

"I….can't…believe….I….had….to….be….saved…by…Gwen!" she said, summoning back her cards and healing herself. A new card added itself to her deck when she recharged it-the Oogie Boogie card which gradually healed her when used.

"Don't flatter yourself." Said someone from behind. Heather turned around and to her came Gwen, Jack, Harold, Donald, and Goofy. "I didn't do it to save you. I was completely indifferent about your health. I just did it for this." She took out the potion, which looked relatively empty. "There are a few drops left but hopefully it's enough for Dr. Finkelstein."

"Excellent!" cheered Jack in excitement, "Let's go bring it to him!" They opened the door of the torture chamber and rather than arrive back in a distorted room, they arrived back in the lab. However nobody argued the physics of it because they all knew how physics worked (or didn't) in the castle.

"Blasted Oogie Boogie!" lamented Dr. Finkelstein, slamming his fist on his desk. "He drank nearly all of my precious potion! There are only a few drops left!"

"Heather, why don't you ask the doctor if you can drink the potion?" Goofy asked. "You did say you wanted to know if that memory of Starr is true or not. Wouldn't you know this way?"

"That would be great for my experiment!" Dr. Finkelstein said, his face lighting up as he wheeled towards Heather.

"Now doctor…" Sally said, downtrodden that Dr. Finkelstein was still pushing his experiments.

"No thanks." Heather said. "It's true that I don't know if my memory of Starr is as true as I remember or not, but it's better I don't find out. What if it isn't as bad? All that'll do is make me lazy and unwilling to help her as she fades from my memory and that'd make me just as bad as if the memory is true. But unfortunately, it is."

Saying those last words, Heather took out the charm from her pocket, the one that she confiscated from Julie.

"I'm surprised you still have that, considering you threw the most meaningful thing she had off a cliff." Gwen said coldly.

"I know I was wrong Gwen." Heather said, "And I know I was because when I look at this I just feel the pain that I brought upon her. And these feelings, they're true enough for me to make me wanna rescue her."

"That's not ever gonna make it up to her." Gwen replied.

"I don't need to make it up to her, I just need to make sure she's okay." Heather said, surprising Gwen a little bit with her selfless response. Gwen just turned her head and remained quiet.

"What about you guys?" Jack asked, turning toward Harold, Donald, and Goofy, "Don't you wanna find out about YOUR true memories?"

The three of them looked at each other uneasily before nodding no.

"No thanks!"

"We've seen what true memories do to people."

"I'd rather just let them come naturally and find the truth on our own."

Dr. Finkelstein turned towards Gwen, but before he could open his mouth she said "Don't even think about it." Saddened by the unwillingness of everyone to cooperate, Dr. Finkelstein went back to his book and buried his head in it with a sense of shame.

"I just don't understand." He lamented, "When I inhaled the potion, Heartless appeared. When Oogie drank it, he was overcome with fear and ecstasy. What could it mean?"

"It means the potion was a failure." Sally said, angering Dr. Finkelstein with the use of the word "failure."

"No!" he shrieked, "No, I can't be wrong! Oogie must have found his true memories!"

"And what happened?" Heather began, "It unbalanced his heart, which is what true memories appear to do. I was scared of that, and my fear became reality. But it also changes your thinking pattern and, it may lead you to want to better yourself."

"Very wise words, Heather." Dr. Finkelstein said, "Your theory sounds accurate and is a great help to me research. Thank you."

"Honestly though I am still scared of what comes next." Heather said, looking down. "Of what's going to happen."

"Well Heather, it's good that you're scared." Jack said, "Fear and doubt are signs of a strong heart. They push your heart, strike out in new directions, take chances! Without them a zest for life would fade…as would your taste for fear. And believe me, that would really ruin my fun."

"I'm so sorry for ruining _your_ fun." Heather said sarcastically.

"They'd also ruin YOUR fun." Jack said, correcting himself.

"Thanks Jack, I'll remember that." Heather said. "We need to get going, I need to face up to my fears and true memories."

"Well then good luck, madam and gentlemen." Jack said, bowing for Heather and her friends in a theatrical manner. "May you always enjoy being frightened."

"And may you enjoy frightening others." Goofy said.

"It was nice meeting all of you!" Harold said, "And goodbye Gwen." Donald and Harold, and even Heather followed up with goodbyes to everyone. As they walked out the door of the lab, Gwen had goodbyes for them as well.

"Goodbye Harold, Donald, Goofy." They all walked out, and when Heather walked past Gwen remained silent. However once she was out the door…

"Goodbye Heather."

As Heather walked out the door, she arrived face to face with a big ladder alone. She cursed under her breath and began climbing, eventually reaching the top and walking out into the 7th Floor Exit Hall. As she walked through Harold, Donald, and Goofy each reappeared behind her back in their normal attire. But what they saw at the end of the hall was more surprising than anything they could have expected.

"WAK!"

"Is it really?"

"You're-"

"MY SWEET LOVELY LESHAWNA!" Harold squealed in delight. Walking towards them from the end of the hall was Leshawna herself, wearing the same outfit she was wearing when she entered the realm of darkness with King Mickey. However she had a blank, nonchalant expression on her face, rather than an expected happy one. Harold ran up and immediately hugged Leshawna, who hugged Harold but she didn't seem as happy to find everyone as they were to find her.

"Nice to see you too Harold." Leshawna said, a bit distant.

"Could it be an illusion?" Heather asked.

"Gawrsh I don't think so." Goofy said, "This part of the castle isn't recreated from your memories so it couldn't be an illusion."

"What's the matter Heather?" Leshawna asked, "Not happy to see me?

"No, I'm just making sure that you're really here." Heather replied, "But it's good to see you're safe."

"Hey Leshawna, do you know where the King is?" Donald asked.

"Hmph, spare the excuses Heather." Leshawna said, deadpan and completely ignoring Donald's question. "You just wanna look like you really do care about me, and everyone, including Starr. Like you never did anything horrible to any of us."

"Um what?" Heather asked, "Of course I care about you, and everyone-"

"But not Starr," Leshawna said, pushing Harold off of her (to his confusion). "You don't care about her at all. You just wanna save her so that you can wake up and look at yourself and actually think you're a good person. You never cared about her feelings or any of ours, you just wanted to look like a hero."

"Leshawna…" Harold said in worried tone, "Are you okay? This isn't like you. You know Heather cares about everyone not just for herself."

"Do you remember any instances of her doing something selfless?" Leshawna asked.

"Well that's just unfair, we're losing our memory." Donald stated.

"No, they just never existed in the first place." Leshawna replied.

"What the hell Leshawna, where do you get off saying all this bullcrap to me?" Heather said, agitated. "We entered this horrible castle because we were looking for you because we cared about you!"

"No, because everyone but YOU cared about me." Leshawna said, "Harold, Donald, Goofy; they care about us and are good people. You just cared about looking good in everyone's eyes, like always. But I see through it, and so does Starr. She doesn't even wanna see your face."

Heather's face fell upon hearing this. Even though she expected that kind of a response from Starr, she wanted to believe otherwise.

"I can see on your face you already know that." Leshawna said. "But who can blame her? Everyone remembers how she got eliminated from the show at your own hands. You, me, and Harold. Pushing her into a bears cave to do the challenge for you and getting bruised, mauled, and bitten?"

These words struck Heather like thunder, the memories stinging at every thought. Leshawna was relishing her pain, and as Heather's face grew sadder, Leshawna's lit up more and more. Donald and Goofy could do nothing but stand by and watch as their friend grew more hurt and someone they thought was a friend inflicting that pain.

"She had to go to the emergency room in critical condition, never to see anyone else again and not even given a chance to participate in Total Drama Action. All her hopes and dreams of fun on the island: crushed by you. Any chance of friends: blocked by you. And the one who threw her most prized possession off a cliff, the only person she was allowed to talk to: you."

Leshawna's smile grew bigger and bigger as Heather's grew sadder and darker, her eyes watering a bit at the mention of her actions. A black orb enveloped Leshawna and when it faded out, Leshawna was back in her dark armor. A deep purple suit covering her whole body with the Heartless emblem on her chest, a white skirt, and her hair no longer in a ponytail but running along all sides.

"Leshawna!" Harold yelled, tears forming in his eyes. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm doing what I need to do to protect the ones I love." Leshawna said. "Go home Heather, don't you even think about getting near Starr. You'll have to go through me because I will not let you hurt her again!" On these last words Leshawna reached out her arm and her sword, the Soul Eater, appeared in her hand as she got in a battle stance. She ran up to Heather and swung her sword, but Heather summoned her Keyblade and blocked it, their blades clashing.

"Leshawna what's wrong with you?!" Heather said, trying to get a word in between their clashing blades. "We're supposed to be friends!"

"Friends?" Leshawna asked, recoiling. "Don't you even insult me by calling me that. Since when have you cared about anyone but yourself? Starr isn't the only one sick of looking at you, so am I!" Leshanwa swung her blade once more and Heather blocked again, but this time the clash created a bright light that, transported both Heather and Leshawna to the platform where she previously fought Julie.

Leshawna recoiled but immediately attacked Heather again, but this time her guard was down. Leshawna hit Heather with two rapid hits, dark energy coming out of the blade each time she landed a hit. Heather was sent back a few feet. Leshawna jumped back and swiped her blade in the air, creating a wave of dark energy that hurdled towards Heather. She held her Keyblade in front of her to guard but the wave was so powerful that Heather was sent flying back and hit the invisible barrier at the edge of the platform. Heather looked up and saw two more waves coming at her, hitting her and crushing her between the impact and the force of the barrier. She raised her Keyblade and cast Cure.

"_What's….going on...with me…..do better….Heather…" _

She looked up and saw nobody in front of her. She then looked up and saw Leshawna coming down from above with sword in hand. Heather sidestepped out of the way, and Leshawna hit the ground, the impact releasing dark energy. Leshawna jumped back up again and aimed for Heather once more, but she ran away again. Leshawna jumped up again but this time Heather pointed her Keyblade at her when she was in the air, and yelled "Fira!"

A fireball shot at Leshawna who was sent back, unable to finish her attack. Heather immediately used the opportunity to combine her top three cards and use the Sonic Blade, rushing towards Leshawna seven times consecutively, hitting her each time. As soon as Heather finished Leshawna spun around 360 degrees, hitting Heather in the hip and sending her back a few feet. Heather turned around and saw Leshawna coming at her, sword in hand. Heather blocked and the two clashed blades, neither one of them willing to let their guard down, each impact releasing a mixture of light and dark energy.

"Give up!" Leshawna demanded.

"No!" Heather said, "I know what I did was horrible but I need to make it up to her!"

"Make it up to her?" queried Leshawna, "Or make it up to yourself!"

The two clashed blades until Heather felt a sudden drainage of power. She couldn't counter back, all she could do was block as Leshawna relentlessly attacked. Heather looked down at her keychain and saw her deck had run dry of attack cards with all the countering she had done. Behind Leshawna was a green card, bouncing around. Heather jumped back, making Leshawna (who was so used to attacking Heather's guard) stumble a bit. Heather cast Thunder, stunning Leshawna long enough for Heather to run over and summon her friend: Harold.

"Harold!" Heather said, until she saw her friend's face. He was sad, not in a remote condition to fight because of the sudden change of heart that the love of his life had. Heather didn't want to lose, but she knew that Harold wouldn't attack her.

"What…" sighed Harold .

"Harold," began Heather, "I need you to talk to Leshawna, try to change her heart."

Harold's face lit up, not expecting that but rather orders to attack the love of his life. He didn't question why but he went for it.

"Leshawna!" cried Harold, blocking Leshawna from moving anywhere.

"Harold, move!" demanded Leshawna.

"No, you need to hear me out." Harold said, "Why are you doing this? This isn't you! You can talk to me because I love you!"

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME HAROLD!" Leshawna coldly stated, agitated that Harold wouldn't let her move.

"But Leshawna I-"

"ENOUGH!" Leshanwa cried, doing the unthinkable. She rushed towards Harold and slashed his sword at him, hurting him enough to make him disappear. Directly behind him was a shocked Heather (with a re-charged deck), looking straight at Leshawna.

"Leshawna, that was your boyfriend how could you!" Heather said, angry at what had happened to her friend.

"I did what I had to do to protect Starr, and everyone else from you!" Leshawna said, rushing towards Heather, slashing her sword against her. "And that was nothing compared to what you've done to Gwen, or Starr, or anybody!"

Heather was avoiding Leshawna's hits, not wanting to waste cards on countering, especially with thoughts clouding her mind. She was true in that a lot of the stuff Heather did was intentional, but that still didn't excuse her for what she did to Harold. Still, it affected Heather more in making her sad than angering her.

"That's just like you." Leshawna said, "running away like a coward. Well I'm not gonna let you run this time!" Leshawna jumped up, blade in hand and came down with great force directly on Heather, releasing dark energy upon impact. Heather weakly rolled out of the way but Leshawna did it again, hitting Heather once more. Heather cast Cure and was able to jump out of the way. Leshawna jumped up but this time Heather cast Gravity, sending Leshawna down hard. Heather combined her top three cards and used the Stun Blade, hitting Leshawna directly in the back and stunning her. With the moments she had Heather combined her top three cards and used the Sonic Blade once more, hitting Leshawna six times, but on the last one Leshawna regained enough composure to block the attack, launching both Heather and Leshawna back to opposite sides of the field.

Leshawna, unwilling to give up, jumped up and released three waves of dark energy from her sword. Heather cast Fira and Blizzara, exploding the first two waves in mid-air, but Heather was hit by the last wave. Leshawna ran up to Heather in her own variation of the Sliding Dash (though covered in darkness) and hit her, launching her up and then crashing down.

"I told you…."Leshawna said, panting loudly, "You're not gonna get to her again. If you care about her, you'll let me save her and you'll go home."

"No." Heather said, standing up and casting Cure. "That'll make me look worse in her eyes, like a coward who gave up the chance to rescue her. Well I will make it up to her. I will save her and you can't stop me."

"Just try." Leshawna said, running up to Heather sword ready to strike. Heather clashed blades with Leshawna once more, both of them equal in strength unwilling to give up. Heather gritted her teeth, trying to overpower Leshawna with every ounce of strength she had. She moved with all her might and for a split second, overpowered Leshawna, giving her the window of opportunity necessary to thrust her Keyblade, throwing Leshawna back to the barrier, crushing her against it. Heather cast Thunder, hitting Leshawna directly and making her fall down, unmoving as Heather panted heavily.

Within seconds the two were transported back to Castle Oblivion, Harold turning his eyes away from Leshawna.

"Donald," Heather said, "Heal Leshawna."

"Heather are you sure?" Donald asked, uneasy about helping someone that caused them trouble.

"Do it."

Donald walked up and cast Cure, restoring Leshawna back to full health. She stood up, and glared at Heather who walked up to her.

"Alright Leshawna, I'll give you an offer." Heather said, crossing her arms. "I'll forget this happened and we team up to rescue Starr, considering that's the most important issue at hand."

"Team up with you?" Leshawna said, as she began laughing. "You must be joking. You have won this time, but over my dead body you're getting to Starr!" Saying these last words Leshawna ran to the next floor, leaving behind everyone. Heather merely scoffed and crossed her arms, putting her head down and thinking. Donald and Goofy just stared between her and Harold, both of which had their heads down and were into their own thoughts. Without saying a word, Heather began waking to the next floor as Donald, Goofy, and Harold followed.

* * *

In a white room, Starr was sitting in a chair, a saddened expression on her face. Jonesy walked up from behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Well would you look at that Starr, the girl who ruined your life is coming to save you, how about that." Jonesy said, "I wish that happened to me."

Starr turned around and looked up angrily at Jonesy, daggers in her eyes pointed right at him.

"Don't waste your time," Jonesy said, walking away, "We nobodies can never hope to be somebodies."

Jonesy walked back to the crystal ball where both Ron and Julie watched the battle.

"There, by releasing his project I was able to instill doubt into both her and her friend." Ron said, "You're welcome."

"Causshe that wassh totally your intention." Julie said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Ron said, "It accomplished what you were wanting. And besides this project is not MY project!"

"I usually don't wanna agree with Ron but he has a point Julie." Jonesy said, "Now we know how strong her _memories_ are, strong enough to make her wanna fight a dear friend."

"Then where did it go?" Julie asked.

"Hiding deeper in the castle, to lure Heather and her friends deeper in." Ron said.

"Alright, you passsh for now, Ron." Julie said. "But know thissh, jussht becausshe you have control over his toolssh doesshn't excusshe you from what you're sshuposshed to be doing-tesshting Heather."

"YOU CALL THAT TESTING?!"

The three stood, unfazed, knowing who the loud booming voice belonged to.

"We have other people who can do what they're asshked." Julie said, in reference to the loud booming voice. They turned and two figures appeared in the corner, both in black coats. One had a big, masculine, strong build and the other a shorter, more slender build. They both took off their hoods, revealing a man with short orange hair and a girl with short dark blonde hair.

"Coach Halder, Chrissy, glad you could finally join us." Jonesy said.

"Sorry we took so long, we were dealing with other matters." Chrissy said. "Luckily though we're here now."

"Let's hurry this up!" Coach Halder said, "This ain't a game where a time out means that everything stops. The players are still goin' while we're just lying around like sissies!"

"Well as you could tell from our previous conversation, the Keyblade wielder is tricky and we need to observe her under different environments." Jonesy said, "We were hoping you both could test her and see what she's capable of in order to better study and get to know her."

"And when we mean you guyssh, we mean you and not some experiment you have cusshtody of." Julie said, earning a glare from Ron.

"Don't worry," Chrissy said, "We'll fight her ourselves, let you guys observe, and be on our way. This'll be fun!"

"Also, try to mess with her mind a bit, it helps our cause." Jonesy said. "Bring up her memories, we can't let them escape her."

"By the end of it all she'll be more confused than the hockey player who blew the match!" Coach said, as Chrissy nodded at him as they both disappeared into dark portals.

"Thingssh are about to get interesshting." Julie said, as the three turned towards the crystal ball.

* * *

The group arrived at the Floor 8 Entrance Hall without saying a word, until Goofy broke the silence.

"Heather, Harold, are you guys okay?"

The two looked at each other with an uneasiness.

"It's not Leshawna that has me like this." Heather said, "I mean I'm worried about why she's like this and how to help, but everything she said about me. Maybe I do wanna rescue Starr for the wrong reasons, and if so doesn't that make me just as bad as I used to be?"

"Awww don't say that Heather," Donald said, "You wouldn't feel this bad if you didn't already feel bad about Starr. You wanna save her because you wanna make it up to her, and you don't want her to be in any more pain. That's not selfish."

Heather was unmoved, and remained looking down.

"I just don't know why this happened." Harold said, "My dear Leshawna, why did you get taken over by darkness again. I thought you were stronger than this."

Jiminy jumped out of Heather's shorts to give him input on the whole situation, facing Harold. "Well maybe it wasn't her, in fact it was almost like Ansem was back controlling Leshawna again."

"But we got rid of Ansem for good." Heather said, joining the conversation.

"Then I do wonder why this happened to Leshawna, it's not like her." Goofy analyzed.

"Hold on…the king!" Donald said, "When I asked her where he was she didn't answer, which was a bit suspicious. He might be in danger!"

Heather and Goofy nodded at this, but looked over at Harold.

"Harold…" began Jiminy, "I know you're thinking that Leshawna went back to darkness willingly, but that's just not true."

"It's not?" Harold asked, raising his head in curiosity.

"Well, I know she said some awful things back there to you and Heather, but you gotta remember where we are: Castle Oblivion. Why, folks lose their memory here a little bit at a time. Leshawna probably just forgot what it was that turned her back to light."

"You think so?" Harold asked, looking at the logic of what Jiminy said.

"That's my guess." Jiminy said, "So instead of being sad-the both of you-we all have to figure out a way to help her get her memory back. I know it's hard, what with us already losing our memories. But if we work together we'll find a way! No need to mope."

Heather and Harold both looked at each other, looking for the others opinion.

"Do you guys remember our very first promise?" Goofy asked.

"No frowning?" Heather said, stuck out her tongue.

"Heather…"

"Okay," she said, smiling a bit.

"No sad faces?" continued Harold, smiling a bit as well.

"That's the second time we've brought that promise up in this castle." Heather said.

"And we'll keep bringing it up until you guys listen to it!" Donald said, "We were serious."

Harold and Heather glanced at each other again, and nodded.

"Come on, let's keep going," Harold said, "We're already this far."

Heather nodded and began walking towards the door. "No way I'm giving up now. Starr, Leshawna, and the King need us."

"Oh boy!" said Donald, happy that happiness was restored in the group. They all walked up to the door together as Heather flashed the next world card.

"Don't worry Starr, I'm going to save you." Heather said, walking through.

"Don't worry Leshawna," thought Harold as he walked through, "I'm not giving up on you."


End file.
